Our War Game
by Pulsar
Summary: AU - A group of young Rookies are caught up in a scramble for the ancient artifacts - relics from a time where humans still existed, before the organic and digital worlds merged for good...
1. Our War Game's Starting Point

Oh boy… This should be interesting. What the heck am I thinking, putting up part of yet another series…? …Oh yeah, I wanted to get the concept down before I forgot it, and see what others thought of it. Eh-he…

So here we go with the disclaimers and warnings, then: First off, and most importantly, I do not own the rights to Digimon. Hey, Azulongmon knows I'd make certain they actually released unedited versions of the series, and especially the movies!

Also, there will be more than a few references to various songs from the Digimon series (as most of you probably deduced from the working title…). The lyrics quotes were found unless otherwise noted at animelyrics.com, a very nice resource site. Also, Megchan's Digimon Encyclopedia (http://www.megchan.com/digimon/) was and will be used as a reference for information regarding digimon who haven't been on the show that much.

This would be another Alternate Universe-type deal, another product of my overactive imagination… Only this one's a bit more removed than most. Let me make this clear right from the start: _These are not the Digimon we know from the series. This is a completely different universe/reality, and not one that would exactly allow for the show characters to be putting in appearances – especially not certain characters that tend to be focused on in the vast majority of Digimon fanfiction._ You'll understand what exactly _that_ means soon enough…

Oh, you'll see all the old standbys, like Agumon, Veemon, Guilmon, Gomamon and the like, but not the same ones we know and love from the series. These are completely different individuals, with new personalities, new backgrounds – and, in more than a few cases, new genders. (Those of you who thought female digimon got more or less screwed in the series, rejoice, 'cause there's a bit more balance in the rosters in this reality.)

If any of you happen to have read one of my other AU series, you should be familiar with the basic rule. If not, I'll repeat it here: if you're a traditionalist who is easily upset by the slightest tweak to the established, 'official storyline' (and we all know how many different 'official storylines' and universes they have now), then leave now or forever hold your flames. I will listen to constructive criticism, not whining about how much things have changed in this world from the reality you're used to.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

__

In another reality, the war between humans and digimon as the two worlds merged into one played out in a very different fashion. Those defending Earth were too cocky, gravely misjudging the new beings that now shared their world… seeing them as an inferior race, one they could easily dominate. The bond between 'partners' became twisted and corrupted, the humans treating their digimon as little more than slaves to do their bidding. Few recognized the truth of what the partnership was supposed to represent… and their protests were lost, ignored until it was far too late.

__

By the time people recognized that Digimon were far more than just a silly game, there was no changing the dire fate they had inadvertently written for themselves.

__

The conflict that followed was not so much a war as it was a rout: humankind was vastly outclassed by the digimon, who possessed powers far beyond their capabilities. Without any of the digital monsters fighting on their side – for all those who might once have sympathized with the humans were either dead or had their loyalty beaten out of them by those they should have been able to trust – there was no hope left for mankind.

__

Countless years have passed since that final struggle for dominance.

__

Humans are now little more than a memory, existing only in tales and myths told to children.

__

Digimon have become the dominant species – about the only species left in the merged worlds.

__

However, there are relics left over from ancient times… Items of power rumored to allow even the weakest of digimon exposed to them the ability to digivolve… That gives strength to anyone who can find them and learn the secrets to unlocking their power.

__

Naturally, rumors of such treasures have attracted the attention of many different digimon, from all levels and all walks of life. Some seek power. Others knowledge and a better understanding of their shadowed and forgotten past. Some simply want adventure, the thrill of venturing into the unknown and discovering wonderful things.

__

Of course, there are those who would prefer some things remained buried, lost, tucked away where there is no chance of those who might interfere with the current order could ever use them against them.

__

A group of Rookies are about to find themselves drawn into a growing conflict concerning the lost artifacts of power… And once again, the young adventurers will discover that what many of them consider at first to be a game is actually a vicious war.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Level 01: Our War Game's Starting Point

Several pairs of clawed hands scraped tiny furrows along a moss-covered stone wall, the eager efforts converging on one particular spot. In the approximate center of where the majority of the scratch marks crossed, one could occasionally catch glimpses of something flickering as it briefly reflected the wavering torchlight that illuminated the otherwise darkened cavern. The same flame cast dancing shadows over the three small figures hunched around the buried object as they feverishly worked.

"Hey, be careful!" one of the trio cried out, even as he raked already grubby white claws over the gradually yielding rock. "We don't wanna break it, ya know!"

"You should talk!" another shot back, crimson eyes narrowing slightly behind their protective covering. Shaking his dirt-caked fingers off briefly in a half-hearted, futile effort to get some of the dust off, he then returned to his task, adding, "'Sides, ya think it'd really break, if it's s'pposed to be so powerful…?"

The first shrugged slightly, never letting up on his task. The last of the trio, sitting between his bickering companions, paused just long enough to spare each one a worried glance.

"Ah-ah, don't fight," he whined. "Can't we just work on finding out what this thing is…?"

"But we're pretty sure we already know what it is…" the second muttered.

"I know! That's why I wanna see it!"

That simple declaration, made with all the conviction of an eager child longing to see his birthday surprise, was enough to quell the argument completely as the trio quickly refocused on the task before them. Two pairs of thick white claws and one pair of claw-tipped sapphire fingers once more pushed away dirt and rubble, slowly exposing more of the mysterious object to the torchlight.

Pleased grins spread over three dirt-streaked faces, and finally the one in the center reached out and carefully pried their treasure from the weakened stone, which gave way just enough for him to lift it out. Cradling the tiny object in his claws, he was vaguely aware of each of his companions placing one of their hands on the one that grasped the precious trinket.

In a sudden, unified moment that seemed almost automatic, the trio of digimon absently reached up with their free hands and shoved their protective goggles back onto their foreheads, exposing their shining and awe-filled eyes.

The protective eyewear each of the three wore were actually more than simple pieces of clothing. The young Rookies had picked them out some time ago, as a symbol of their everlasting friendship and the promises they had made to one another – to seek out adventure wherever they could find it.

The three goggles were not exactly the same make, however.

The goggles that Agumon wore, for example, had been customized slightly to make certain they would fit snugly over his bright green eyes. The black center strap was extended so that it wouldn't snap whenever he slid them into place – the orange reptile did have a somewhat wide face, after all. The rest of the strap was embroidered on the edges with blue and yellow, two of his favorite colors.

Meanwhile, although Veemon's goggles were of a very similar make, with wide, round lenses and a base black strap, they had also been fitted so that they wouldn't catch on the small dragon's horns. The sapphire-scaled digimon also wore a colorful bandana round his forehead, with vivid orange-red flames standing out on the yellow fabric. When his goggles were in their normal position, the reflection of the design seemed to dance in the curved lenses.

As for Guilmon, the crimson dinosaur sitting between his two friends with their treasure still resting in the palm of one clawed hand, he had ended up with a design that was starkly different to the ones they wore. The blue-tinted lenses were set in a bright yellow casing, one that set off his wide golden eyes. The simple black strap looped around underneath his webbed ears, having been designed to fit quite comfortably whether they were in their normal position shoved up on his forehead or pulled into place.

Of course, now that they had been moved away one could clearly see outlines of where they had once rested, thanks to the dust and grime that coated the rest of the three Rookies' exposed faces. The only clean areas that remained were circles around their eyes.

Their rather filthy state did not faze any of the trio in the slightest, however. Their attention was solely for the precious object they had managed to uncover and free from its stone tomb.

The device was small, resting easily in the center of Guilmon's palm. It was shaped somewhat like a flat oval, with curved indents on each side. Three large oval buttons graced the front, one positioned to the left and the other two on the right of the screen in the very center. That screen was currently darkened, a blank rectangle that displayed nothing, yet three pairs of eyes were fixed wonderingly on its smooth surface.

"So… This is one of the old items of power…" Agumon breathed, verdant eyes filling with excitement.

"A digivice…" added Veemon, equal awe and eagerness lighting his scarlet eyes.

Guilmon blinked, then cocked his head slightly to one side, studying the precious object they had unearthed.

"…It's… kinda small, isn't it?" he piped uncertainly.

"Guilmon!" his companions chorused in mild exasperation.

Privately, however, each one silently agreed at least a bit with the red dino's statement. After all, all three had been raised – along with the rest of their generation, and countless generations before – listening to the countless legends and myths surrounding the supposed 'artifacts of power'.

According to the old tales, there were several relics from some long-ago conflict scattered all across their world: items that, when their true power was unleashed, gave tremendous amounts of energy and strength to their wielders – enabling even the weakest digimon to digivolve into some higher form.

There were various types of these items as well, and – if the legends were to be believed – the object they now possessed was supposed to be one such artifact: a digivice.

The trio of wanna-be bold adventurers now held in their grubby, dirt-covered little hands something that could very well be the key to the epic journey they had been hoping for their entire lives…

"So…How do we turn it on?" queried Guilmon, lifting the little device and peering at it.

Agumon and Veemon both shrugged, blank expressions on their faces.

…Provided they got past this little roadblock first.

* * *

While the trio continued to attempt and figure out the secret to activating their new prize, some distance away, another young digimon was busy enjoying another beautiful afternoon – even though she wasn't directly under the clear blue skies.

Instead, blue of another kind surrounded the Rookie, and the sun's gentle rays crested the surface of the sea with glittering silver, and pierced the clear waters just enough to illuminate her already breathtaking surroundings, further brightening her world.

The smile that adorned the youngster's face was just as bright as she wove her way with an effortless grace through the familiar surroundings, darting through natural coves and twisting underwater formations.

Sunlight streamed through the water to dapple her snow-white fur, further highlighting the violet markings on her face, back, ears and flippers. Fiery crimson hair drifted in rippling currents around her beaming face, a few briefly obscuring sea-green eyes that twinkled with laughter.

__

Yes, Gomamon decided with a delighted giggle as she flipped backwards once in the water, _Today is definitely another perfect day to go exploring._

Her giggling became a touch more mischievous at that moment: the seal digimon knew full well that she wasn't really _supposed_ to be swimming around here like this. By all rights, the little Rookie _should have_ been back with the marine group she swam with, following the instructions the higher evolved sea digimon gave her like a good little girl.

Then again, she wasn't exactly the perfect little Marine Angemon, now was she?

Truth was, Gomamon found the school so boring: the elder digimon were always pressuring her to excel, always pushing her too hard… And they all acted so overprotective, practically smothering her all the time.

Why, the last time she had been caught going on one of her little explorations, they had been so shook up that the little white seal found herself being watched constantly – even more than was usual for the paranoid fools – for almost three entire weeks! It had taken some serious work (as well as a few well-timed pranks and other cunning tricks) to get the higher-leveled digimon to lower their guard enough for her to slip away again.

Why did they always have to baby her so much – act like she wasn't capable of taking care of herself? Sure, Gomamon was forced to admit that her primary ability – summoning her friends the amazing magical marching fishies – wasn't exactly the most threatening technique a digimon could possess, but hey! A little cunning and creativity in their use could work wonders…

Besides, Gomamon had never even really seen any real threats in the ocean. For all she knew, there weren't any horrible digimon in the area – or even in the water ever. The only Virus type she recalled meeting was a little Betamon, another Rookie who hadn't ever done anything to harm her. In fact, the two had made pretty fast friends, perhaps in part because neither had much of a chance to interact with those their own level.

__

'Course, that got ruined pretty fast when ol' Whamon showed up and chased him off, recalled Gomamon with a frown that soon became a stubborn pout. _They never let me have any friends my own level…_

Well, she'd show them that they couldn't control her. Nobody told a Gomamon what to do and got away with it.

Sea-green eyes flickered down to the small medallion hanging firmly around her neck, and Gomamon smiled proudly. She'd had the pendant ever since she was a Fresh level Pitchmon: a memento of the family she was too young to remember, one she'd come to regard as a good-luck charm of sorts. From what she had learned from her would-be 'guardians', it had been passed down through her line for some time, though she wasn't certain just how long.

The most important thing was that it was hers, a link to the lost family she wished she could have known, and something nobody could ever take from her. 

Taking a moment more to admire the familiar engraving – a cross with four triangular beams of light surrounding it, engraved on a smooth pearl surface and tucked safely into a golden holder – Gomamon then continued swimming forward through the clear waters.

If somebody had informed the white seal that she would one day come to regret hiding from her guardians, Gomamon would have giggled wildly and blithely informed them just how silly a concept that was. Why would she ever have reason to regret leaving those overbearing, overprotective, overgrown worrywarts behind?

She had no way of knowing at that point just how radically her life would change, or how much of that would be due to the simple-looking trinket hanging round her neck…

* * *

Sapphire blue eyes scanned over bustling streets, seeking the familiar glint of light off lenses that was so easy to spot from her vantage point. Pink-feathered wings filled with the cool spring breeze, bearing the searcher's small avian body along as she looked for any sign of the ones she was looking for. Their unique choice of headgear usually made it much simpler to locate them – provided they were in the area.

Since she couldn't catch any sight of them, she knew that they weren't around.

A disgusted sigh came from the little bird digimon as she grudgingly swept in for a landing. While she had a pretty good idea of where those three had run off to, she wasn't about to waste any more time going after them.

The metal bracelet on her left leg jingled softly as Biyomon alighted on the ground, the various charms she had attached to it swinging against one another. She glanced down absently, quickly reassuring herself she hadn't lost any of the simplistic trinkets.

There wasn't really any cause for her to worry, as she had clipped the little decorations on in such a way there was virtually no chance of any coming off because of her normal routines. The colorful charms were shaped like the familiar glyphs reported to be printed on the mystical lost 'crests' – hers held no power, of course, simple jewelry crafted to capture the imagination of children who followed the old stories.

Biyomon only wore the things because she liked the pretty designs, and thought they made the otherwise simple band of metal she wore a bit more attractive. So far, she had only bought two: a red, swirling heart and a pink eight-pronged star, patterned after the ancient symbols for Love and Light, respectively.

She was also thinking of saving up to buy the blue yin-yang-like symbol for Friendship, feeling it might match the highlights on the tips of her tail and feathered crest.

Certainly not because she bought into those silly tales of lost items of powers and forgotten civilizations, naturally! Biyomon considered herself far too old to believe those Fresh tales…

__

Unfortunately, she noted with another long-suffering sigh, _so many certain other Rookies choose to trust in those simple fables…_

"Hey-yyy, B-ko!"

Looking up at the sound of her nickname, Biyomon smiled and waved back at the pair of Rookie digimon scurrying toward her.

"Hello, P-chan!" she shot back at the one who had called to her.

Palmon frowned in mock anger, doing her best to look put out by the remark. Then the plant digimon burst into giggles, her own charms tinkling where they were clipped to the pink sash wrapped round her neck. She carried one shaped as the teardrop of Purity and Sincerity, in addition to another Light starburst.

"So, have you had any luck tracking the boys down yet?" she inquired, liquid green eyes still dancing with merriment even as she calmed down.

Biyomon, however, only shook her head, her frustration returning at the mention of the three she'd been searching for.

"Those empty goggle heads? Still haven't found them yet." Her blue eyes hardened as she added, "But I have a pretty good feeling I know where they're at…"

"Still scrounging through those old caves, eh?" Palmon shook her head. "Ah well. They'll come back soon enough…"

"Yeah, when they don't find anything," griped Biyomon, rolling her eyes. "When are they gonna learn they're wasting their time chasing after those silly legends?"

Palmon's smile faded slightly, and the plant digimon looked somewhat miffed at the rose bird's comment. Just because Biyomon didn't believe in the ancient tales didn't mean that her friends agreed completely with her… Still, being used to Biyomon's occasionally blunt attitude, she quickly bounced back to her normal cheery grin.

"Anyway, what say we go shopping to pass the time, 'stead of waiting for 'em to come back?" she suggested eagerly.

Biyomon glanced at her, momentarily torn. Part of her wanted to go find the boys and berate them for their foolishness, but they'd have to come slinking back before dark, after all, and she could chew them out then…

"…Okay, let's go," she relented with a smile.

"Do you think Vee will be alright?" piped up the other digimon who had come with Palmon suddenly, catching their attention.

Biyomon frowned slightly at the worry in her friend's quavering tone: it seemed that whenever the almost painfully shy Wormmon did speak up, it was invariably out of concern for somebody else. And that concern was typically over the green larva digimon's elder half-brother, Veemon. The fact that the blue dragon child went traipsing around on his foolish 'adventures' without any regard for his weaker sibling… Well, it was just another reason that Biyomon despised the goggle trio's stupid antics.

Palmon placed one leafy arm over Wormmon's back reassuringly, a sympathetic smile on the weed Rookie's face.

"Hey, don't worry about it," she instructed, smiling her crooked grin. "You know full well Vee's perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Anything gets in his way, he'll just Vee Punch it out of his path!"

She swung her other arm in a mock punch to illustrate her point, and was rewarded by seeing her friend relax. While Wormmon's pincher mouth didn't look like it was capable of much expression, Palmon could tell she was starting to smile in her own little way from the way her blue eyes began to brighten.

"Feh. That doofus'll probably 'Vee Head Butt' a wall or somethin' and get himself and his friends buried alive."

Wormmon's slow smile instantly froze, and her bright blue eyes widened with alarm at the caustic declaration. A visible shudder ran through her small frame.

Palmon bit back an angry curse at seeing her friend's mood drop back into worry and fear again, and glared over at the cause. Biyomon also grimaced: as if things weren't bad enough with the boys running off again, the last thing she needed was to deal with _her_ right now…

Turning around, her cobalt eyes narrowed as they met and locked with laughing jaden orbs. Just beneath the dark green eyes, one corner of a thin mouth quirked upward in a smug smirk, exposing one tiny fang. Thin arms clad in crimson gloves crossed over a purple chest, mostly covering the toothy grin of a demonic smiley face.

"I take it for granted those losers ditched you gals again to go on one 'a their little 'quests'?" inquired Impmon, her long spiked tail swishing from side to side idly.

Biyomon didn't bother to answer the demon Rookie's question. It was obvious from the other's smirk that she knew full well where the three boys were. Instead, the bird fluffed out her rose feathers slightly, making it even clearer that she didn't consider the other welcome here.

"Who says we want those idiots around us, anyway?" she spat. "We've got more important things to do than waste time listening to their stories."

Impmon's smirk merely widened, her green eyes glinting as she sized the pink avian up.

"So Agumon did stand you up then," she observed mildly, and was rewarded with an indignant squawk from her opponent.

"Did you even hear what I just said?"

"Loud and clear, sister," replied Impmon, her mocking tone letting the others know she had drawn her own conclusions from Biyomon's reactions.

The worst thing about it was that they were all fully aware of the fact she had guessed correctly. Indeed, Agumon was supposed to have been meeting Biyomon and the others, but there was little doubt that the orange reptile had convinced Veemon and Guilmon to sneak off to explore instead.

However, Biyomon wasn't about to admit the purple Virus was right. So instead, she settled for fixing Impmon with an icy glare while she struggled with her temper.

"I. Don't. Care. What you think," she hissed, her tone giving away the lie in that statement. "Palmon, Wormmon and I were just about to go get some nice shopping done. So if you're finished bothering us for no reason…"

"Who says seeing how red I can turn your feathers isn't reason enough for me?" sniped back Impmon, still smirking in her annoying fashion.

However, the violet demon abruptly bent at the knees and, in a fluid movement, leapt almost effortlessly from the street to a nearby tree branch. Landing easily on her new perch, she glanced back over her shoulder down at the three other females and winked.

"But if youse don't want me around, I suppose I can find some other way to entertain myself. Laterz!"

With that, Impmon turned and sprang off, disappearing from sight. Once the purple Rookie left, the three other girls glanced at one another and sighed in unison. It was all too clear to them where she was headed.

"Looks like the boys are 'bout to be getting a visitor, wherever they're at right now," observed Palmon mildly, sweatdropping. "Bet Vee'll get a kick out of that…"

"Mmm," agreed Wormmon with a nod, sweatdropping along with the weed Rookie.

"More like a fireball straight up his…" Biyomon muttered, shaking her head.

It was pretty common knowledge among the Rookies that Veemon had developed a huge crush on Impmon, for reasons that many of them couldn't quite fathom. Biyomon had a sneaking suspicion, however, that it had something to do with the little fact that the blue dragon tended to chase the tail of any female who so much as glanced his way.

Still, his pursuit of the violet demon seemed to be more constant: many of his crushes came and went with his short attention span, but for some reason he hadn't stopped fawning after Impmon. Maybe it was partly because the Virus had taken to amusing herself by toying with his emotions – those instances where she actually _flirted_ with Veemon encouraging him despite the number of times she simply blasted him instead.

Biyomon shook her head, then smiled, a bit mean-spiritedly. Let the stupid goggle-heads deal with the fiery-tempered imp for now. It would be decent enough punishment for their truancy until they came slinking back – at which point she'd be free to tear into them herself. And she wouldn't let her talons out of Agumon's hide until he practically begged her for forgiveness.

Beaming at that thought, she spun to face her companions and slapped one wing playfully over Wormmon's back.

"So, what say we take you over to buy some charms like ours?" she stated more than suggested. "I bet we can find you some really cute ones!"

"Oh… But I-I couldn't… I don't have a lot of…"

"Momentai, Wormy!" chimed in Palmon merrily, slapping the stammering larva digimon on the back as well. "We'll pitch in ourselves! C'mon, how 'bout we get you a Light charm like ours, and you can pick out one you really like to go with it!"

Without waiting for a coherent reply, the bird and flower forced their flustered friend, trapped between their bodies, to stumble forward as they guided her to one of their favorite shops, chattering the whole way to drown out her helpless protests.

__

Yes, decided Biyomon as she glanced up at the brightly shining sun and continued planning out how they were going to spend the rest of the day, _things are definitely looking better already…_


	2. Brave Heart - Digivolution Activation?

Level 02: Brave Heart – Digivolution Activation?

The small village of Shuppatsu-ten was known by its inhabitants for being nestled in a hilly domain where plenty of winding caverns could be accessed from half-hidden entrances. The network was well known among the younger digimon as a special place that they could explore for hours – if they could sneak away from their parents and guardians. It was especially nice that they could slip out of sight – and, often, into areas where their guardians couldn't head after them – giving the children an area where they felt the adults held a little less power over them.

There wasn't really much for them to find, however, other than pretty rocks and plenty of hiding places. You could stake out a passage as a little fort of sorts, maybe find a secret area to stash some of your own treasures, but anything really valuable or interesting was likely to have been discovered and taken away long ago.

At least, that was what was said. However, considering what a trio of three adventurous rookies had just been lucky enough to uncover during their explorations, it appeared there were still a few secrets buried in the shadowy depths.

True, perhaps their good fortune had something to do with the fact they had just uncovered the tunnel they had discovered their prize in. Guilmon had been poking around with his friends, and ended up pressing a little too hard against a rocky wall with his large hands. The soil giving way a little underneath his claws had been the bulky Rookie's only warning before his hand went all the way through, and by the time he'd yanked his arm back out, there was a sizable hole revealing a pitch-black passage beyond.

Veemon had been the one to come up with the idea of using a torch, and after running back out to retrieve some thick branches had gotten Agumon to light one. (Their first attempt, using Guilmon's Pyro Sphere, had led to much screaming and flailing on Veemon's part as the little blue dragon quickly discovered there was such a thing as overkill – and that Pyro Sphere plus small stick plus dragon hand holding said stick equaled pain.)

They had been rewarded, however, by discovering something very interesting hidden in the uncovered passageway: a small electronic device that resembled one of the 'ancient artifacts' described in old legends: a digivice.

If it really was one of the mystical items of power, then they could use it to digivolve themselves into a higher form – if they ever figured out how to turn it on, that was.

At Veemon's suggestion, they had left the tunnel and gone outside: their torch's flame was beginning to flicker out, and the blue dragon really didn't want to go through all the fuss of attempting to light another one. Besides, in the sunlight they could inspect their new find much easier, and didn't run the risk of stumbling and losing it again in the dark. It was far too important an item for them to possibly lose like that.

So now Agumon, Veemon and Guilmon were out in the open air, sitting on a patch of vibrant green grass and huddled around the digivice, which was… just sitting there, doing nothing. The screen was still as black as it had been inside the cavern.

The trio stared intently at their treasure for a long moment, as if the force of their unwavering glares alone would activate whatever wondrous magic the digivice possessed that enabled it to give its bearer strength. It soon became all too apparent to them that it was not nearly this easy.

"…Hmm… Maybe you've gotta hit these things in some sorta order to get it to work…?" Agumon guessed uncertainly after a moment, pointing at the buttons on the front.

"Okay, sounds good… But… Which one do we hit?" asked Veemon.

"…All of them?"

Acting on his own theory, Guilmon then attempted to press all three buttons at the same time. Unfortunately, the scarlet dinosaur quickly discovered that his long white claws, while perfect for rock breaking, more or less sucked when it came to more delicate work. The poor Guilmon fumbled about with the tiny device, struggling to hit even one of the even tinier buttons without dropping – or crushing – the artifact.

"Oh, for… Gimme that!"

Veemon swiped the digivice from the red Rookie's already more-or-less nonexistent grasp. Since his tiny claws were more like fingernails on his slim fingers, the blue dragon was easily able to press the buttons – first each in turn, then all at once, waiting all the while for some reaction to occur.

Nothing happened. Veemon's ruby eyes glinted with frustration as he glanced at his companions and shook his head in the negative.

"Maybe there's like a code or something ya hafta put in," he commented, giving the digivice a sharp shake. Biting the inside of his lip, he went on, "Maybe we should get Wormy to take a look…"

"No! It's our treasure!" howled Agumon. "We found it, not her!"

Guilmon blinked at his fellow dinosaur's outburst, then cocked his head to one side and regarded his friends.

"But aren't we gonna show them anyway?" he asked, clearly confused. "You said we were gonna…"

"I know what I said! I just was PLANNING on showin' everyone AFTER we got it working! Ya know… find out what it'll turn us into…"

"…Oh."

Veemon grimaced, glaring down at the innocent-looking object in his hands. Agumon was right: the whole plan had been that once they uncovered something like this, they were supposed to turn into their Champion forms – partly to find out what it was like, and mostly to show off to the others in their village. Once they'd proven they could reach a higher level, surely the elders would have to finally let them go off on a real journey like they'd always wanted to – and maybe they'd impress some girls, too!

They'd been lucky enough to discover the digivice while exploring their hideout of caves near the village, one of the few places they were able to slip off and explore without getting caught. The rest of their plan hinged completely on figuring out how the little trinket worked… but at that point, their luck seemed to reach a dead end.

His half-sister Wormmon was well known for her love of reading and studying the old legends – maybe she would know more about the digivices, and how to trigger their powers…

However, if he showed it to her, then it wouldn't be long until Palmon found out: even if he made Wormy promise not to tell anyone, the weed Rookie had a tendency to rapidly catch onto and figure out when something was up. And once the flower digimon found out, Biyomon would immediately learn about the whole thing, and through her…

"Hey, would it really be so bad, Agumon?" he wondered aloud, smirking as a thought suddenly struck him. "I mean, come on: don't you wanna rub this discovery in B's face? This PROVES we were right all along, ya know!"

"I know," Agumon shot back, grimacing as he added, "But you know how Biyo is: if we show that thing to her and can't get it to work, either she'll claim it's a fake or that all this proves is the artifacts aren't as powerful as the stories say."

"…Fake?" queried Guilmon, cocking his head to one side again and blinking his wide golden eyes.

Shuffling over to Veemon, the crimson dinosaur beat forward and sniffed at the digivice, taking a deep breath while his two friends stared at him like he was insane.

After a few seconds, he straightened back up and declared, "It doesn't SMELL fake to me…"

"How would you know what a real one smells like…?" asked Veemon, giving Guilmon an odd look and sweatdropping slightly.

"Because that IS a REAL ONE!" Agumon shouted at the top of his lungs, a tiny vein standing out on the side of his head.

"A real what?"

All three of the goggle-wearing monsters jumped at once, then whirled around, wide-eyed to face the newcomer. Upon seeing who it was, they reacted in starkly different ways.

Veemon's crimson eyes appeared to morph into hearts for a moment, a rosy pink blush spreading across the bridge of his muzzle. His goggles then dropped back over his eyes, the lenses inexplicably fogged up. The blue dragon began to grin strangely, a dazed and somewhat dopey expression on his face.

Agumon slapped himself in the face with one hand, slowly dragging it back down as a completely disgusted look joined his previous frustration. Bright green eyes closed for a moment as he silently asked what else could go wrong, then reopened to fix the newcomer with a cold glare.

Guilmon looked at his two friends, saw how they reacted, and wondered for a moment what was wrong with both of them. Turning away, the red dinosaur raised one hand to wave at the digimon joining them.

"Hi Impmon!" he called, a wide, inviting smile spreading over his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I could say the same to you, buddy," Impmon replied, smirking at him in a not-so-inviting manner.

Glancing over at Veemon, the violet Virus allowed herself a quick, sly grin. Turning to face the small dragon, she favored him with a coy smile and a wink, verdant eyes twinkling.

Veemon's dopey grin instantly widened, while Agumon's glower deepened. Both effects pleased Impmon to no end.

"So, what have you boys been up to, hmm?" she inquired, placing one gloved hand on her hip.

"Nothin'," replied Agumon tersely.

"But Agumon," Guilmon pointed out innocently, "I thought we were trying to make the di…"

In a movement that was surprisingly fast for the orange reptile, Agumon darted over to Guilmon and clamped both hands over the startled red Rookie's muzzle. He then pinned the poor dinosaur with a venomous glare as Guilmon struggled to free his mouth.

"We. Weren't. Doing. Nothin'," he insisted again, turning his angry stare from his fellow goggle-mon to where Impmon stood watching.

"Ah. I see. So what were you doing, then, if not nothing?" she asked simply, chuckling a bit at Guilmon's plight.

"I told ya we weren't doing nothin'!"

"Well, if you weren't doing _nothing_, then you must have been doing _something_."

Agumon blinked.

"Come again?"

Impmon's smirk grew wider as she explained, "You told me, and I quote: 'We. Weren't. Doing. Nothin'.' Therefore, you just admitted that you were doing something 'stead of sitting round here doing nothing!"

Agumon and Guilmon just stared at her blankly, and she sighed.

"Guess words like 'therefore' are a bit too big for them to understand," she muttered, shaking her head in mock pity. "Oh well."

Pivoting on her heel, Impmon then plastered an incredibly cheesy false smile on her face and cooed, "Will you tell me what's you've been doing, Vee _darling?_"

Several rather interesting phrases shot through Agumon's thoughts at that moment as he recognized too late his grave error in judgement – in forcing Guilmon to remain silent, he had left Veemon alone and easily approachable by Impmon – and Veemon still had the digivice!

By the time he let go of Guilmon (who began to gulp air gratefully) and spun towards the pair, it was too late. He could clearly see the digivice in Veemon's hands – and so could Impmon, especially since the blue dragon was showing it off to her and bragging.

For her part, Impmon did actually look a bit impressed. Veemon grinned and went on, thinking that she was in awe of how he'd been able to locate such a rare and precious artifact – not realizing the purple demon wasn't hearing a single word he said.

Instead, her jade green eyes were fixed solidly upon the digivice he was holding, as snatches of the old legends played through her racing mind.

Digivolution. The ability to become stronger in an instant. To gain power, and never have to want for anything again.

The initial surprise that had struck the normally glib demon speechless slowly faded, giving way to a cold, calculating smile that bared the tip of one of her tiny fangs. Verdant eyes gleamed as the countless possibilities this development could bring flashed through her mind.

Veemon saw her smiling and grinned back: obviously she was very impressed with his find. Maybe if he played this right, he could get her to agree to go on a date with him… maybe even more…

Another deep blush spread over the blue dragon's cheeks at that, and his crimson eyes glazed over slightly as his goggles fogged up again. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he failed to notice that Agumon was storming up to him, fuming.

He _did_ notice when the orange reptile seized him by the shoulders and yanked him in a rough about-face so that they were nose to nose.

"Oh… Hey, Agu…" he greeted his buddy, wondering just why the orange dino looked so ticked off. "…Man, what's got your tail in a knot…?"

"I was just wondering that, myself," Impmon piped up gamely from behind him.

"Excuse me, but I have to ask you something," Agumon said in an eerily calm voice. He shot a look at Impmon and added, "Something just 'tween us guys."

Impmon's typical smirk was firmly back in place, but she nodded and took a few steps backward, watching as Agumon pulled Veemon a bit closer.

"So what is it?" whispered Veemon, figuring that whatever it was had to be pretty important if the fire lizard was preparing to whisper in his ear like this.

"I was just wondering," Agumon paused, took a deep breath, and screamed at the top of his lungs, "WHAT IN THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Veemon's scarlet eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he toppled over backwards from the force of Agumon's shriek. Guilmon stopped pulling air into his lungs and gaped over at his friends with golden eyes that were almost as wide. Impmon just chuckled, shoulders shaking a bit as she struggled to suppress a full-fledged laugh at the dragon's expense.

"If that's your idea of a private conversation…" she trailed off meaningfully, ignoring the dirty glare that the orange reptile shot at her.

"Shove it, Virus!" snapped Agumon.

"Hey…" Guilmon whined, fin ears drooping as he fixed his friend with a pitifully sad expression.

"No offense, Guil," Agumon hastily reassured, sweatdropping as he realized his mistake.

Impmon snickered to herself again, half-covering her mouth with one gloved hand to mask her smile. It wouldn't do for Veemon to see her enjoying his friend's frustration right now, after all: while she normally didn't give a damn about what others thought, there was a very good chance she could get what she wanted with the blue Rookie's help – if she played her cards right…

The dragon digimon was too preoccupied with getting up and regaining his balance to pay any attention to Impmon at that moment. His head was still ringing, and it took a few seconds for his furiously pounding heart to slow down enough for him to collect his thoughts.

"Hey, what was _that_ all about?" he demanded angrily.

In response, Agumon just lifted one hand and showed the digivice to everyone again.

"Remember this?" he asked in a scathing tone. "Remember what we had planned to do with this?"

"…Yeah, so what…?" shot back Veemon.

Agumon just glared at the blue dragon digimon. Gradually, understanding dawned on Veemon's face, and he blushed in embarrassment for a moment, dropping his scarlet gaze to the ground.

"…Oh yeah… We were gonna keep it a secret 'til we got it to work… Um… Oops?"

Agumon slapped himself in the face again, while Impmon frowned thoughtfully.

"They haven't even gotten it to work yet?" she mused under her breath, studying the trio with eyes narrowed into jaden slits. Shaking her head, she muttered, "Then again, considering this group, that shouldn't be too surprising…"

Still, this hindered her plans a bit. While she had been hoping to learn from them – most probably Veemon – how to activate the digivice so she could use it on herself, the fact that _they_ didn't have any clue how it worked either effectively ruined that idea.

However, it also meant that there was essentially no reason for Impmon to let them keep it any longer… Surely she could figure it out on her own…

Unaware of the purple demon's dark musings, Veemon shook off his embarrassment at his error and glared back at Agumon defiantly.

"Okay, anyone can make a mistake. Big deal! Everyone's gonna find out what we found soon enough! 'Sides, you woulda bragged to Biyomon if she was the one who came walking up to us…"

"No I wouldn't," insisted Agumon, turning bright red. "I'm not gonna let HER know 'bout this 'til we get it working first! I wanna prove that this is a real digivice, and that she was wrong all along in saying they don't exist!"

"So you boys need help making that thing work for ya?" Impmon spoke up, drawing attention back to herself.

"…May-yyy-be," Agumon drawled slowly, giving her a wary glare. "What's it to you?"

"Do you know how to make it work, Impmon?" asked Guilmon innocently.

"'Course she does!" Veemon chimed in instantly, grinning widely. "Impy's so bright and well traveled, she knows everythin' there is to know! She can get it to work in no time, right, Impy?"

"I might," Impmon said cryptically. However, her knowing smirk vanished for a moment and she leveled a cool glare at Veemon as she added with a hiss, "And don't call me 'Impy'."

"You think we're really gonna buy that?" Agumon growled, tightening his grip on the digivice as he glared daggers at the violet Virus. "Just how stupid do you think we are?"

"Believe me, you don't want me to answer that, reptile," Impmon murmured softly.

"Jeez, lighten up, Agumon!" said Veemon, ignorant of what his crush had just muttered. "It's not like we're getting any farther on making this thing digivolve us by ourselves! Why not let her take a crack at it?"

"Because I don't wanna," Agumon replied bluntly.

Veemon and Impmon both rolled their eyes at this. Guilmon just blinked.

"Why not?" the crimson dinosaur asked, cocking his head to one side.

"'Cause I don't trust her," and Agumon pointed a claw accusingly toward Impmon.

She just blinked, then clasped her gloved hands together and put on her best innocent look, verdant eyes widening with false surprise.

"Why…why not?" she inquired, sounding both startled and injured by the accusation.

Agumon just narrowed his eyes at her, obviously not buying the act. However, the same could not be said of his companions, as Guilmon's golden eyes welled up with sympathetic tears and Veemon panicked.

"Aw, man, now look what you've done," exclaimed the blue dragon, fixing his orange companion with an enraged glare. "Why ya gotta be so mean to her all the time? Look, now you've even got Guil going, and you know how hard _he_ can be to calm down!"

Agumon just stared at Veemon with a dry look that made it crystal clear that he didn't honestly care how Impmon reacted to his comments. However, his expression softened as he noticed his other friend on the verge of tears.

"Ah-ah, Guilmon, don't start…"

Too late: the red Rookie was staring at him with pleading, watery eyes, looking absolutely pitiful. Agumon sweatdropped, recognizing the signs of an oncoming explosion of tears.

"Guil…" he whined, desperation tingeing his previously harsh tone. "Ah, come on, don't be like that… She's not worth… I mean…"

Meanwhile, Impmon was taking advantage of the situation: she slowly approached the stammering Agumon, keeping her 'injured and insulted innocent' look firmly in place despite the fact she was laughing inside. Standing in front of the sweating orange dinosaur, she mimicked Guilmon's hurt expression, verdant eyes shimmering with crystalline tears.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you t-trust me?" she sniffled.

"…No," was Agumon's simple reply, as he glanced at her coldly.

The harsh glance turned into a double take, however, as he realized belatedly just how close she had gotten to him. The sweatdrop on the back of his head doubled in size as he started to lean backward, attempting to avoid contact with her.

"Oh, you're so mean!" the purple demon wailed.

Covering her watering eyes with her gloved hands, she let out a loud sob, surreptitiously leaning closer so that Agumon was forced to incline himself further backward. Soon the nervous reptile found himself bending backward at a very painful angle, the muscles in his pain screaming in pain as he leaned heavily on his tail.

"…W-well, if that's the w-way you feel… I-if you r-really don't th-think you can t-trust me…"

Abruptly the crocodile tears ceased, and Impmon looked up at Agumon with a vicious grin twisting her face.

"—Then far be it for ME to prove ya wrong!"

With that, one red-gloved hand shot out and slammed into Agumon's chest, causing the already off-balance Rookie to fall flat on his back, while the other snatched the digivice from his grasp. Laughing merrily, Impmon darted away before the startled Veemon and Guilmon could make any move to grab her, and paused at the edge of the caverns. Turning around to face the trio, she pulled on her eyelid and stuck out her tongue, while waving the digivice at them.

"Thanks for the gift, goggle-heads!" she called, then turned tail and bolted from view.

"We gave Impmon a gift? I don't remember buying her anything," Guilmon commented, blinking.

"That's… 'cause… we didn't!" choked Agumon, stumbling back to his feet, face flushing crimson with rage. Finally managing to stand again, he kept one hand clamped over his aching chest as he roared, "After her!"

This snapped both Guilmon and Veemon out of their shock, and as full understanding of what had just occurred crashed down upon them the pair yelped and scrambled after the violet demon, leaving Agumon behind. The orange reptile took a few more seconds to ready himself, until it didn't ache quite so much to breathe in, before taking off after them.

Impmon chuckled as she bounded along through the underbrush, clutching the precious artifact to her chest.

Dimly she heard the shouts of the trio as they started their pursuit, but merely shook her head at their stupidity and laughed. Even if they did attempt to follow her in order to regain their treasure, instead of whining all the way back to the village, there was little chance that they could catch the violet Virus. Impmon's natural agility and speed, coupled with her head start, gave her a solid advantage over them. Also, the oversized fire lizard Guilmon was too bulky to follow the winding path she was taking through the brush easily, Veemon was too infatuated with her to deal with her seriously, and Agumon, with any luck, was still flat on his back stunned.

And even on the off chance that they _did_ manage to pull themselves together and catch up with her, Impmon was fully confident that she could handle them in a fight. After all, Agumon would be the one most likely to actually attack her if it came to that – Veemon surely wouldn't raise a finger to hurt her, and Guilmon was far too softhearted to hurt anyone.

If she could get the digivice to work before they arrived, of course, that would tilt the odds even further in her favor.

Slowing her pace a bit, Impmon began the study the small device even further, running her fingers over the smooth screen and testing a few of its buttons. She expected to see some sort of reaction at first, even if it wasn't an instant digivolution, but the artifact did nothing. The darkened screen failed to light up, and not even the faintest sound issued from it in response to her poking and prodding.

Impmon's brow furrowed, and she continued her careful examination, her efforts becoming more forceful with each passing minute without any sign of success. Soon, the demon's dash had slowed to a walk, then a crawling pace, until finally she halted in her tracks, so completely caught up in trying to get the thing to work that she failed to notice she was no longer moving.

"C'mon… What's wrong with you, ya stupid piece of junk?" she hissed under her breath, pounding the unresponsive buttons in a futile attempt to trigger something, anything. "Is this thing even on…?"

Still nothing occurred. The digivice's screen remained black and lifeless. An enraged snarl curled Impmon's lips, and she gripped the useless device tightly, gloved fingers pressing into the smooth, unyielding surface.

"Damn thing must be busted," hissed the frustrated Rookie, and she raised one hand over her head, ready to dash the stubborn digivice into the ground. "Figures that the one digivice those goggle-heads are lucky enough to stumble across is broken!"

"We didn't stumble across it," a hurt-sounding voice piped up behind her. "It was buried, and we dug it up."

Impmon stiffened, one arm still raised high over her head in preparation to throw the ancient artifact. Ever so slowly, she turned to stare behind her, green eyes mere dots in her widened eyes.

Guilmon just blinked at her, fin ears drooping as he asked, sounding a bit saddened, "Do you really think it's broken? Ah-ah, Agumon will be so sad when he hears that… He was really looking forward to digivolving, you know."

"………"

Impmon just gaped back at the crimson dinosaur in disbelief, one of her eyes beginning to twitch slightly. Oblivious to her reaction at his presence, Guilmon went on, his mood abruptly brightening as a new thought occurred to him.

"Hey, maybe Wormmon could fix it! Veemon always said that she's really, really good at all that… um… techne… techin… tech-something stuff. Yeah. She could look at the old stories and see if they say how the digivices worked!"

He beamed at the wonderful-sounding plan, then noticed that Impmon didn't seem quite as thrilled for some reason. Confused, he blinked at her and tilted his head questioningly.

"What, don't you think that's a good plan?"

"It sounds great, buddy," affirmed Veemon as he emerged from the brush a few feet away from the red Rookie. Crossing his arms over his chest, the dragon smirked and added, "That is, if our fearless leader doesn't mind getting her involved…"

"At this point, it sounds like a perfect plan," Agumon replied, walking into view as well. The orange reptile was smiling, but his verdant eyes shone a bit coldly as he went on, "Of course, we'll need the digivice that Impy here borrowed back, first… You don't mind, do ya, Impy?"

Impmon snapped out of her shock enough to glare back at him, though she resisted the urge to snarl 'Don't call me that!'. It wouldn't help her situation right now.

"So can we have it back? Please?" Guilmon asked, his tone belying the fact that he was the only one of the trio who saw the question as a simple request.

Impmon glowered at him, lowering her raised arm back down to her chest, still clutching the digivice possessively. Her jaden eyes seemed to glitter dangerously as they flicked from side to side, briefly resting on each of her adversaries.

Guilmon was the only one honestly surprised when she raised her other hand and a small scarlet flame erupted into life just above one pointed fingertip.

"Why don't you take this instead? Bada-BOOM!"

The tiny burst of flame rocketed toward Guilmon. Impmon didn't bother to watch the red dinosaur dodge out of the way. Pivoting on her heel, she took off again, her sharp ears informing her of Agumon and Veemon's plunging into the bushes after her. A few seconds later, the heavy plod of the larger Rookie's feet over the soil joined the sounds of pursuit.

"Anytime you'd like to start making me digivolve is just fine with me!" she hissed at the digivice, keeping it pressed tightly against her chest as she ran.

However, there was still no response from the artifact. Not that Impmon was seriously expecting it to respond to her words, but she felt that it would be extremely nice if it started cooperating with her right then…

With Impmon focusing mainly on evading the goggle-mons and the trio concentrating on following, it didn't take too long for them to get a bit disoriented. The violet demon wasn't fully aware of where she was headed until she abruptly realized she was dashing through warm sand instead of soft grass. Startled, she paused for a moment, staring around.

Shimatta… I ran right to the beach without realizing it!

Most of the digimon in Shuppatsu-ten enjoyed the fact that their village was only about six miles or so from a coastline. However, while Impmon enjoyed relaxing on the beach a bit now and then, she also knew she was now out of her element. Without the natural shadows cast by the trees and bushes, with their countless hiding places…

She whirled to leave, only to see it was far too late to flee: her pursuers had already arrived, and had fanned out to roughly surround her. Agumon – who was most likely the one responsible for their breaking up to cut off her chances of escape – signaled to his friends, and they began to slowly close in.

"C'mon, Impy, just give us back our digivice, 'kay?" pleaded Veemon. "I promise we'll all use it once we figure out how it works…"

Agumon snorted to himself, rolling his eyes at that.

"Don't call me Impy," Impmon snarled defiantly, taking a few steps backward.

Inwardly, she cursed vividly at her luck turning rotten on her. She could feel cool spray from the ocean lightly moisten her tense back, mixing with the droplets of sweat rolling down the back of her head. Despite her grim-looking situation, the purple demon tightened her grip on the digivice, not willing to give it up to these morons just yet…

That was when they heard a faint beeping noise.

"What's that?" queried Guilmon, looking around the beach for the source.

"Hey, lookit that!" Veemon cried, pointing.

Impmon joined the others in staring at the device in her hands. The digivice's screen was glowing faintly, a tiny spark of light standing out against the violet digimon's crimson gloves. Her verdant eyes bugged out for a moment, and then Impmon looked up at the stunned trio with a triumphant smirk twisting her face.

"Looks like the tables just turned, boys," she snickered. Raising the digivice high into the air with both hands, she shouted, "Now! I command you, oh ancient artifact of power, give me the strength I desire, to crush these weaklings under my heel! Make me digivolve!"

For a few moments, there was utter silence, broken only by the crashing of waves against the sandy beach. Agumon, Veemon and Guilmon stared at each other, then back at the digimon they were facing, and sweatdropped in unison.

After the space of several heartbeats, Impmon sweatdropped as well, and brought the digivice back down to glare at it.

"What's wrong with this stupid thing?" she hissed, shaking it roughly. "It's all lit up, so why isn't it making me digivolve?"

"Maybe you said the wrong transformation phrase," Guilmon offered helpfully.

"GUILMON!"

"What?"

Agumon and Veemon just shook their heads in exasperation, and the blue dragon sighed, "Never mind…"

"Okay then…" Impmon took a deep breath, then raised the digivice again and shouted, "Impmon Demon power, Shin-KA!"

"………"

"Ancient artifact, here is someone who wishes to make a contract with you. A Rookie digimon named Impmon. Digivice, grant this Virus power! DIGIVOLUTION!"

"………"

"…Digivolution Activation…?"

"………"

"WORK, DAMNIT!"

"…I don't think it's working."

"Thanks for the brilliant observation, Guilmon!" snarled Impmon. Shaking the digivice violently, she screamed, "You stupid excuse for an item of power! Why the heck aren't you working?"

With that, she tossed the digivice to the ground, and hissed again as she watched it bounce off the sand.

"Hey, be careful with that!" yelped Agumon, rushing forward to snatch it up.

"Feh. The stupid thing's obviously not working right," Impmon sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the useless-seeming device.

"I dunno… It's doin' somethin' weird," Veemon observed, noticing that the screen was glowing a little brighter. Taking the digivice from Agumon, he turned it over in his hand and added, "Least it's on now… Wasn't glowing before…"

"Oh really?" Impmon's tone oozed with acid as she spat out, "Well, then, mind telling us why it's doing that? If it's not gonna make me digivolve, then what the heck is it reacting to--?"

The water directly behind the fuming Virus abruptly exploded upward into a huge geyser, causing Impmon to squeal with surprise as she was pitched forward by the sheer force of the blast. The other Rookies cried out in shock as well, and Veemon barely managed to grab Impmon and yank her out of harm's way as the water crashed back down upon the beach, drenching them.

"What… what…?" stammered Agumon, stumbling backwards along with his companions.

A long and twisting shadow blocked out the sun's rays, and the four Rookies looked up to see a huge, snake-like creature looming over them.

Impmon was the first to snap out of her stupor, but failed to immediately notice that she was leaning against Veemon, or that the dragon's arms were half-wrapped around her. Instead, the violet Virus let out a piercing shriek, unable to tear her gaze away from the aquatic monster.

Her scream triggered several effects, not the least of which being that the trio of goggle-mons started to scream in terror as well. The snake creature glared down at them with icy blue eyes, aquamarine and white scales slick and glistening from the water.

"Wh-wh-what is it?" stammered Agumon, taking several more shaky steps backward.

"How should I know?" shot back Impmon, attempting to cover up her fear by sniping at the reptile. "You think I know all the digimon names off the top of my head or somethin', just 'cause I'm smarter than…"

"It's Seadramon!"

Impmon blinked and stared at Veemon blankly, finally noticing she was clinging to them.

"How do you know that?" she demanded irritably, shoving him off her.

In response, the blue dragon held up the digivice. An image of a digimon that looked exactly like the one looming over them was displayed on the screen, along with a few rows of information.

"This says so," he explained, before studying the display again. "Says here it's a Champion level Data digimon who won't let go of his prey 'til it's dead!" He paled a bit at that, then went on to report, "His attacks are Water Breath and…"

"Ice Arrow!" the Seadramon hissed, spitting a blast of frozen water at the Rookies.

Thankfully, the four managed to dodge out of the way in time, but screamed as the force of the blast sent sand and bits of ice flying everywhere. Impmon landed on her tail, bit back a yelp of pain, and glared at Veemon, who had been flung in roughly the same direction as her.

"Perfect! So at least we know how we're gonna die now!" she snapped, verdant eyes flashing.

"No way… we're dying here," Agumon grunted, stumbling to his feet. Shaking the sand and grit off as best he could, the orange dinosaur glared at the intruder and shouted, "Look, buddy, I don't know what your problem is, but there's four of us and only one of you, so back off!"

"Great, apparently reptile-boy WANTS to die," Impmon muttered under her breath, shaking her head.

The Seadramon gazed down at the small band, an amused sneer twisting his mouth.

"You think you can beat me?" he inquired, chortling a bit. "I suppose I could use you and your friends for target practice, since I doubt my actual target will be going anywhere for a while…"

Agumon blinked, but didn't get a chance to wonder about those words long, for the serpentine monster suddenly lunged forward, maw gaping wide. Gasping sharply, the orange reptile sprung backwards, causing the Seadramon to get a mouthful of sand instead.

"Pepper Breath!" he shouted.

The small ball of orange fire struck Seadramon directly on a nostril, causing the Champion to screech and rear back at the unexpected pain. Shaking his head, the water dragon's lips curled back in a teeth-baring snarl, icy eyes flaring with rage.

"Little brat," he hissed, "THAT was a mistake."

Opening his mouth wide again, the Seadramon then sent a blast of concentrated water at the Rookies, sending them flying once more. Veemon skidded to a halt, flat on his back, then looked up through a haze to see a splintered icicle bearing down upon him.

"…Uh-oh…"

"Bada-BOOM!"

Several blood red flames streaked out from behind the fallen blue dragon and struck the frozen missile, melting it into a harmless stream of water that soaked Veemon's face rather than skewering it. Veemon sighed, then cast a grateful look back at his savior – the gratitude mixing with another emotion entirely.

"Thanks, Impy…"

The violet demon hopped down beside him, and one gloved hand shot out, swatting the dragon's cheek.

"Don't call me that," she hissed, verdant eyes flashing as she glared at him. "I didn't do that for _you_, anyway."

She reached out toward him with one hand. Veemon leaned up to take it, only to see Impmon's face darken further as she yanked him roughly onto his feet. Her other hand clamped onto his, pressing something he was holding further into his palm. Looking down, he realized he had managed to hang onto the digivice.

"Okay, blue boy, you've got a choice here," Impmon snarled, as emerald eyes locked with ruby orbs. "Either you help me figure out _now_ how I can use this thing to digivolve, or you and your little goggle-loving friends die here thanks to that oversized water snake. What's it gonna be?"

As if there's really a choice, Veemon thought grimly. Aloud, however, he said, "As if I'd turn down a chance to help a lovely mon like you…"

Again a gloved hand shot out and impacted with his cheek, as Impmon commanded, "Drop the 'suave mon' act and just make this thing work!"

"Gotcha."

Meanwhile, Agumon shook off some of the wet sand coating his face and blinked, temporarily blinded. The sounds of fighting and screaming filled his ears, and for a precious few seconds, the orange reptile had no clue where his opponent was. Fully aware of the fact that Seadramon could be sweeping in to finish him off at any moment, his efforts to reorient himself became more frantic…

A deafening roar echoed from somewhere above him, and Agumon winced, instinctively covering his head with his arms. There was no chance he could avoid the Champion digimon's attack in this state…

He paused, scarcely daring to breathe. Then the roar sounded again, and Agumon realized it wasn't coming from above him, but from somewhere more on his level… Blinking the remaining grit out of his eyes, he looked around frantically.

Again the roar rang out, and Agumon froze with shock as comprehension hit. As he watched, temporarily paralyzed by fear and amazement, Guilmon lunged toward Seadramon, raking his long white claws across the serpent's ivory underbelly. The Champion screeched and dove toward the red Rookie, only to miss as Guilmon dodged away.

Guilmon snapped his head up and responded with a challenging snarl of his own – the same roar Agumon had heard before.

Then Agumon noticed that his friend's normally innocent bright golden eyes were filled with a wild energy, practically glowing with a feral battlelust. The change in Guilmon's demeanor was so startling, for a moment Agumon thought wildly that another Guilmon had somehow arrived.

That theory was more or less shattered when Seadramon knocked the red dinosaur flat on his side, and Agumon clearly saw the familiar yellow goggles still strapped to his forehead.

"G-Guil--!" he screamed, rushing forward to join his friend.

However, another blast of icy water gushed out of Seadramon's mouth, surging over the sand and blocking Guilmon from view. Agumon coughed as he was blown backwards again, his scream catching in his throat as he once more choked on sand.

"G-Guil! Guilmon!"

Veemon and Impmon also cried out as the cold liquid drenched them, yet neither relinquished their grasp on the digivice.

Opening her eyes first, Impmon glared at the stubborn artifact and shouted, "Hurry up and work, will ya? I refuse to be deleted by this damned sea serpent!"

The digivice's screen continued to glow blankly, displaying Seadramon's statistics without offering any other, more valuable assistance.

"C'mon, work, willya?" pleaded Veemon, his voice cracking. "My friends are out there, and they're gonna get deleted… You've just gotta save them!"

"Save _THEM?_ How 'bout just savin' _ME_ so I can kick that snake back where he came from!"

Agumon had no clue this exchange was going on several feet away from him. His horrified green eyes were locked on the place where his friend had been standing, and he called out his name miserably over and over again.

"Guilmon! _Guil!_"

He sucked in a gasp as the scene came into clearer focus before him. Guilmon was lying motionless on his side, only the slight rise and fall of his chest letting the terrified reptile know his friend was still alive. A cruel chuckling burned Agumon's ears, and he saw Seadramon still floating calmly in the water, head waving back and forth slightly as he laughed.

Then, the water serpent opened his mouth once again, and Agumon found himself stumbling forward, knowing with a horrible certainty that the Champion's next assault would end his friend's life.

I'm gotta do something! he screamed silently, though he knew even as he struggled forward it was a futile effort. He was just a little Rookie whose strongest attack only annoyed Seadramon because he'd gotten in a lucky shot. There was no way he could intervene to help Guilmon like this…

But I've gotta try! I can't let… I won't let him hurt Guilmon anymore!

He was only dimly aware of something deep in his chest beginning to burn as he pushed forward, his thoughts rising into a scream as he watched Seadramon prepare to launch his final assault.

Guilmon… and Veemon and Impmon… I won't let them get deleted!

Unbeknownst to the orange reptile, the digivice Veemon and Impmon were clinging to like a last desperate lifeline was beginning to pulse with a pale light. This didn't mean, however, that it escaped the notice of his friends.

"Eh?" Veemon stared down at the device, blinking in confusion.

"What in the…" began Impmon, only to be cut off as Agumon abruptly screamed.

"_I WON'T let you hurt my FRIENDS!_"

The digivice's glow suddenly intensified, and dragon and demon both cried out as a beam of light shot from the small object and streaked toward where Agumon was standing. Seadramon was also startled, and the water serpent recoiled slightly, icy eyes widening at the unexpected flash of bright light.

"Agumon, digivolve to…"

A feral roar ripped from the orange dinosaur's lungs as an overwhelming energy shot through him. Every muscle in his body seemed to be pushing outward at an incredible rate, stretching his darkening skin. Slashes of dark brown mottled the surface as his frame expanded into a bulkier, far more muscular body, and the skin covering his forehead adopted the same shade as it hardened, becoming thicker, sturdier. Green eyes wrenched closed, then snapped open again as they became shot through with pale red.

"This can't be…!" Seadramon hissed, rearing further backward as he watched the process in growing shock.

"GREYMON!"

Veemon and Impmon looked on in shock, their facial expressions nearly identical as they stared bug-eyed at the newly born Champion.

"…A-Ag-Aga-ga-ga…Agumon…?" murmured Veemon, unable to manage more coherent speech.

Impmon stared, then scowled, before pointing out the pair of goggles now pushed even farther back on the orange dinosaur's forehead. Like all items of clothing used by digimon, they included a special code to help keep from breaking apart during digivolution – it was much cheaper than replacing such things.

"Take a wild guess," she said dryly.

Inwardly, the violet demon was steaming: Why did _Agumon_ get to digivolve while _she_ remained a tiny Rookie? Why had the digivice granted him power when she was the one holding it, the one demanding its gift be given to her?

The crash of the new Champion's talons raking across Seadramon's scales snapped Impmon back to reality. Verdant eyes narrowed dangerously as she watched Greymon force his opponent farther back into the water, farther away from the beach where Guilmon lay slowly recovering from his injuries.

That should have been me out there. I should be the one flinging that water snake's slimy tail back into the ocean depths, 'stead of cowering beside – ugh – Veemon…

Her talons tightened around the digivice a bit, and she silently vowed that one day soon, she would find a way to achieve the same power that the orange reptile had mysteriously gained.

Meanwhile, Seadramon was no longer enjoying himself. The weakling Rookies he had stumbled across while closing in on his true target had turned out to be more than a simple diversion. By all rights, he should have been able to wipe out the quartet without even breaking a sweat, but this… this was unexpected to say the least.

Greymon snarled and lashed out again, and the sea serpent bit back a wounded screech as the dinosaur's claws bit deep into his flesh. Instinctively he retreated further back into the ocean, snarling at his opponent while mentally debating his next move.

His actual target remained unattained… But he would have to go through this unforeseen obstacle first in order to search out his intended prey. While part of him ached to teach this runty upstart and his friends a lesson, the painful throbbing in his chest forewarned him of the possibly grave outcome this battle could have.

As much as he despised the now very real possibility of facing his employer's wrath, the chances of his deletion in this fight seemed equally real.

Still snarling, Seadramon continued to slither farther and farther back into the waiting depths of the ocean. Finally, he dove underneath the surface, justifying his retreat by telling himself that someone had to bring news of what he had just uncovered to his master. This sort of revelation was extremely important, and the sooner his boss learned of it, the better…

Greymon watched as his opponent retreated where the orange dinosaur could not reach, then let out a victorious snarl. Behind him, Veemon came racing out, waving both arms wildly and cheering.

One of the dragon's hands was still holding the digivice, which he raised in triumph as he shouted out, "Whoo! You did it, Agumon, ya really did it! You digivolved! Boy, you sure showed that overgrown water snake a thing or two!"

"Humph. I wouldn't have taken nearly as long to dispose of that fool, or even let him live after what he did," grumbled Impmon, yet she couldn't hide a pleased smirk.

At least Seadramon got thrashed before retreating… and now at least I know the digivice isn't completely broken…

"Ooh… headache…"

"You okay, buddy?" Veemon asked, stopping by Guilmon and helping the larger Rookie climb to his feet.

"Yeah…" Guilmon nodded, then looked up as his blurring golden eyes refocused, showing him a much larger dinosaur. Blinking in shock, he blurted, "Agumon?"

Greymon nodded, then abruptly stiffened, eyes going wide. Before any of the others could ask what was wrong, a pale orange aura flashed around the dinosaur, and his figure swiftly shrank and retracted.

When the light cleared, Agumon was standing where Greymon had been, looking dazed and more than a bit confused.

"What the…" Veemon started to ask, crimson eyes wide.

"The digivice's effects must have worn off," Impmon decided, frowning thoughtfully as she considered this. "Guess it doesn't last for that long… Either that or you just couldn't handle that much power for long, Goggle-head."

Agumon scowled at her, sticking out his tongue.

"At least I got to digivolve," he teased, then suddenly he paused, eyes widening as that fact dawned on him. A mixture of shock and excitement flooding over his features, he repeated, "I digivolved… It worked… The digivice works!"

"I know!" cheered Veemon, matching Agumon's ecstatic expression and slapping his stunned friend a high five. "Now all we gotta do is make it work for all of us, and then we can go off on a REAL adventure!"

"All of us?" Impmon repeated, smirking. "Glad to hear you're including me in that plan, boys…"

"Oh, no. Who says you're gonna get involved in this?"

"Veemon does. Don't you, Vee-_sama?_"

Veemon flushed crimson, the blue of his face deepening to a rich cobalt as he stammered, "Well, uh… sure!"

"Oh, perfect!"

"Veemon!"

"What?"

Guilmon, meanwhile, had tuned out the others' argument. It always hurt to hear his friends raise their voices like that, so the crimson dinosaur often distracted himself in any way he could when it started up.

This time, his attention was captured by an unusual smell. Guilmon benefited from some very highly tuned senses, and he had just caught a whiff of something he didn't recognize – or, rather, didn't completely recognize.

Sniffing quietly, the red Rookie wandered away from where the other three were… 'discussing their disagreement'… and started to trace the new scent.

Whatever the source, he could tell it wasn't too far away. Sand that had been strewn about wildly thanks to the battle shifted under his huge feet as he plodded along, craning his head back and forth, always focusing on where the scent grew stronger.

Caught up in their argument, with the unfortunate Veemon caught in the middle, Agumon and Impmon failed to notice Guilmon's absence right away. It was only when they heard the crimson dinosaur call out suddenly that they realized he was no longer standing nearby.

"Guys!"

"Eh? What's wrong, Guil?" Veemon called back.

"Come here, quick!"

The other three Rookies exchanged a look: even Impmon looked mildly alarmed at the note of urgency in Guilmon's tone. After shooting the violet Virus a look that told her they'd discuss their issue later, Agumon jogged towards the sound of his friend's voice, with Impmon and Veemon directly behind him.

"Guilmon, what's…" Agumon trailed off as he rounded a bend and saw what was causing the larger Rookie to raise such a fuss. Behind him, Veemon stopped short, biting back an involuntary gasp, and Impmon grimaced.

"Well," she commented, her tone somehow light and grim at the same time, "now we understand what that sea serpent meant by his 'actual target'…"

Guilmon just looked at the others pitifully, golden eyes watering, as he remained kneeling by the motionless figure of an unconscious Gomamon. The water digimon's white fur was coated with grit where she had been thrown roughly against the sand, and at her throat glittered a medallion depicting a cross radiating four beams of light…


	3. An (Not So) Invincible Flutter Kick

Level 03: An (Not So) Invincible Flutter Kick

Today had seemed like such a nice day, Impmon groused silently, verdant eyes narrowing in disgust as she thought over earlier events.

Everything had seemed fairly typical just a few hours ago: the violet Virus had woken up at a leisurely time, 'found' (read: stole) a delicious meal, and went through her rounds in Shuppatsu-ten. Finding Biyomon with her little friends and already in a bad mood, Impmon had amused herself for a while by seeing just how red she could make the bratty bird's rosy feathers turn. In the process, she learned that Agumon had stood the avian up – again – and sneaked off with his little group of goggle-mons in order to find 'adventure', and decided to have some fun with them.

She certainly hadn't expected to discover upon her arrival that the trio had actually managed to find something valuable – a digivice, of all things! The mere thought of what ancient power lay within the artifact nearly made Impmon shiver with delight… If only she could get her claws on it, then she'd never have to want for anything again!

Instead of being able to finally digivolve, however, the violet Virus had instead found herself caught between a rock and a sea serpent, forced to scramble to safety with the goggle-mons as a Champion digimon attacked. Then, as if to add further insult to injury, the stubborn digivice finally granted some of its power – to Agumon, not her, even though she had been holding onto the device at the time.

Now, instead of flaunting her new Champion form to the others, Impmon was forced to take shelter in a small cavern with the obnoxious trio until their… 'guest' woke up.

The demon Rookie's verdant eyes narrowed as she glared suspiciously over where the goggle-mons were crouching around the unconscious newcomer. After Agumon managed to drive off Seadramon thanks to his new Champion form, and reverted back to his normal weak reptile self, Guilmon had wandered off and found a little white digimon washed up on the beach. None of the goody-goodies could bear leaving the newcomer there, so they'd carried her back her and were waiting for the sea child's eyes to open.

The digivice had already given the four some information on their guest: it identified her as a Gomamon, a white seal Vaccine digimon who happened to be the same level as the rest of them, a Rookie. The small, slender body clued them into the fact that this was a female of the species – something that had instantly caught Veemon's attention. The blue dragon was sitting the closest to their guest, crimson eyes fixed intently on her relaxed face.

Impmon sneered silently; she wasn't really surprised. Veemon was known for swooning over anyone of the opposite gender. However, his affections switched around quite often – usually after his last target had made it crystal clear they wanted nothing to do with him. The little dragon would be down in the dumps for a bit before running back to the only one who had ever encouraged his efforts…

…Even though the only reason Impmon even did so was the fact that he could be useful to her at times.

…Heh. If I'm lucky, he'll tick her off right here and I'll be able to watch her kick his tail out of her sight. That would start to make up for this whole day… just a little…

Shaking her head, the purple demon looked down at herself critically. At least she and the goggle-heads had managed to get themselves cleaned up after the fight… While she figured the boys didn't mind how they had been covered in gritty sand and dirt from their ordeal, it had been another major annoyance for her – something else to gripe about, as it were.

Besides, she had enough pride in her appearance to not want this new arrival's first impression of her to be of a grubby, dirty-faced child.

The violet demon's jaden eyes narrowed further as she continued to study the Gomamon's limp form. There was something else nagging her about the seal's abrupt appearance, a lingering impression that there was something extremely vital she was missing about this whole matter.

Once again she found her gaze drawn to something glittering at the sea Rookie's neck. Impmon had been the first to notice the strange medallion the Gomamon wore, and since then had been attempting to figure out just why it set alarm bells off in the back of her mind every time she caught a glimpse of it.

Unfortunately, none of the goggle-mons were letting the violet Virus take the pendant so she could study it closer: Guilmon had protested first and loudest, claiming, "It's not nice to take other digimon's things without their permission!"

Thankfully, Agumon had not taken the chance to snipe at her further about the situation with the digivice, since his clawed hands were currently full trying to help carry the white seal to safety.

So, for now at least, she was limited to staring at the piece of jewelry from a distance, silently racking her mind in a so far futile attempt to figure out just what was bothering her about it. She couldn't put a finger on it yet, though, and the frustration was quickly getting on the small demon's last nerve.

The other Rookies seemed blissfully unaware of Impmon's rapidly fouling mood: each of the three boys was currently watching their unexpected guest as well, each lost in their own thoughts.

Guilmon was worried: ever since he'd caught a whiff of this newcomer's scent he'd known that the white seal was hurt. Cleaning off the sand that had clung to her wet fur, however, had thankfully revealed no serious wounds. But as long as the white seal remained unconscious… then they wouldn't be able to introduce themselves and possibly make friends.

Guilmon always liked making new friends. He hoped this one would wake up soon so they could try and make friends with her…

Veemon was also interesting in 'making friends', in a sense… It hadn't taken long for the blue dragon to realize their unexpected guest happened to be a female of her species. Now that she was cleaned up, he was currently admiring her slender, lithe body: how nicely the pale lavender markings highlighted her snow white fur, and how bright her flame red hair was…

She was definitely pretty. And since Veemon had been one of the ones who saved her, maybe she would be more receptive to his advances than most girls were…

While Veemon drifted off into la-la-land, imagining how grateful the one they had rescued would be, Agumon's thoughts went down a very different path. To the little orange lizard, finding a stranger knocked out on the beach was just another surprise in a day that so far had been filled with them.

Dropping his verdant gaze from where the sea lion slept, Agumon found himself staring down at his hands: each wide palm gave way to three stubby fingers tipped with thick ivory claws. They were not as slender or flexible as Veemon's small, five-fingered hands, and the claws were not nearly as long or fearsome-looking as the ironically gentle Guilmon's were. Even Impmon's hands, covered as they were by crimson gloves, were extremely nimble and quick, and a mere thought from the violet Virus caused fireballs to dance at their tips.

Yet just a short while ago, these same clumsy hands had morphed into powerful weapons, the claws lengthening and sharpening dramatically as the rest of the orange lizard's body went through a similar transformation. Agumon had turned from a small, stubborn Rookie into a towering Champion – Greymon. He had digivolved.

And for the life of him, he couldn't figure out exactly how he had done it.

Oh, Agumon knew it had something to do with the digivice he was currently turning over again and again in his hands. However, circumstances had prevented him from seeing exactly how the device had granted him the ability to digivolve – distracted by the sight of his friend Guilmon about to be deleted by Seadramon's assault.

Making matters worse was the fact that Veemon and Impmon – who had been actually _holding_ the digivice when the transfer occurred – hadn't been able to shed any more light on the problem. Impmon, naturally, was biased, insisting that by all rights _she_ should have been the one to digivolve and take out Seadramon… Yet Veemon's sentiments mirrored the violet Virus's own: one of them should have digivolved instead of Agumon.

Also, the fact that he'd changed back almost immediately after Seadramon had retreated startled him… as well as frightened him a bit, though the stubborn lizard wouldn't admit it, especially in front of his current companions.

Agumon had mixed feelings about the fact that he had changed back to his Rookie form. While a part of him was relieved that the digivolution hadn't been completely permanent – he'd grown somewhat attached to his current form, and wasn't so certain he could get used to quickly to a bigger body – the fact that he'd reverted so abruptly had shaken him a bit.

Digivolving had always seemed to be a one-way thing: either you went up a level, or you stayed the same. Most digimon in Shuppatsu-ten were low-leveled by nature – only the very strongest reached the Champion level, and currently only a few handfuls lived in the tiny village. The leader himself was Champion level, and led the settlement primarily because he was the oldest among the Adult digimon – hence the title 'elder'.

Yet he'd changed back to his Rookie form after only a short amount of time in his new Champion body. The process had gone easily both ways: one moment, he'd been staring down upon his astonished friends from his newfound height, the next he was blinking at them back on eye level.

Maybe Impmon was right, he grudgingly admitted to himself. _Either the digivice's gift doesn't last for long, or I couldn't handle that much power for more than a few minutes…_

he grudgingly admitted to himself. 

He frowned at that, a bit disturbed. Thinking that maybe he just wasn't strong enough yet to handle a higher level for a long period of time hurt the orange dinosaur's pride, but not as much as the fear that gripped his heart. After all, the strength had faded only a few short minutes after Seadramon's departure…

What if there's a time limit… and it runs out on us next time?

Agumon suppressed a shudder at the notion, and he glanced furtively at each of his companions. Veemon, Guilmon, and even Impmon, annoying as she could get… they could have easily been deleted by Seadramon if he had not somehow digivolved. He had to get stronger, so that if the digivice did impose a time limit on digivolution… Either his being stronger would lengthen the time limit, or enable him to defeat any enemy faster. Either way sounded just fine to him…

A soft groan brought Agumon back to the present, and he blinked in shock as the white sea digimon began to stir.

"Hey, she's waking up!"

"We can see that, goggle-lizard," snapped Impmon curtly, though the violet Virus did scoot a bit closer for a better look at their awakening guest.

Veemon and Guilmon also leaned forward, crimson and golden eyes wide with anticipation. Of course, the blue dragon was thinking along lines rather different than the red dinosaur's innocent hopes for a possible 'new friend to play with'…

Another faint groan passed through barely parted lips, and the sea digimon rolled over so that she was flat on her stomach. Sea green eyes slowly fluttered open, sweeping over her surroundings slowly as the marine Rookie struggled to get her bearings. Then, abruptly, they snapped open wide, focusing enough to show her clearly that she was not alone.

Gasping, the white seal scrambled hastily to her feet, the tiny ebony claws on all four of her flippers digging into the ground as she scooted backward right into one of the small cavern's walls. Violet-tipped ears folded back further as she recognized that she was trapped by these strangers, and the small body tensed, sea green eyes darting from side to side as she searched for a way out.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down," Agumon soothed, hands held before him in a surrendering and calming gesture. "It's okay, really!"

"We're not gonna hurt ya," added Veemon.

"It's not like we bite," and Impmon smirked, one tiny fang glinting in the light as she added, "without good reason to."

"Impmon!" snapped Agumon.

"What? Just telling it like it is, goggle-head…"

The white Rookie's wide green eyes continued to sweep nervously over the four, even as the tensely held body began to relax slightly. Fear gradually faded from sight to be replaced by curiosity and confusion.

"I'm… on the land," she murmured after a bit.

"Brilliant deduction, there," deadpanned Impmon. "You must have been at the head of your class in your school…"

"Impmon… you're not helping…"

Agumon's warning growl was cut short, however, when the marine digimon giggled. The violet Virus shot him a triumphant look, then turned her attention back to their guest.

"We found you washed up on the beach a little while ago, and brought you over to this cavern so you'd be safe when you woke up," Veemon explained. Puffing out his chest a bit, he added, "I carried you here myself, of course…"

Impmon rolled her eyes and muttered, "Oh please… you know it was Guilmon who carried her most of the way. You just hovered nearby and fussed over how 'cute' she was despite being unconscious…"

Veemon sweatdropped nervously, feeling his cheeks burn scarlet at the accuracy of Impmon's statement. The white seal glanced over at him, looking a bit bemused, then blinked suddenly, stifling a gasp.

"Oops, I forgot…" Bowing her head politely, she looked back up at the four other Rookies with a lopsided smile and said, "My name is Gomamon, pleased to meet you. What are your names?"

"Agumon, and likewise," the orange lizard replied, folding one arm behind his head while grinning back.

"Name's Impmon, kid, something you'd do well to remember," the purple demon said next, folding her gloved hands over her chest and smirking.

"I'm Veemon, and the pleasure's all mine, I'm sure," chimed in the blue dragon, flashing a victory sign at Gomamon.

"And I'm Guilmon!" the large crimson dinosaur piped cheerfully. Pushing his slipping goggles back into place on his forehead, he blinked wide golden eyes at Gomamon and added hopefully, "Are you gonna be a new friend?"

"Oh, yeah, way to be blunt about it, goggle-mon…"

Despite Impmon's disparaging comment, Gomamon just smiled back at Guilmon and nodded, slowly.

"I'd…like that," she replied. "I've never had the chance to make friends who lived primarily on land before…"

"Well, if dino-boy's gonna get a straight answer just by being blunt, there's no sense in me sugar-coating this." Impmon leaned forward, verdant eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as she went on, "What's the deal with you and that Seadramon that attacked us on the beach? He mentioned something about his 'true target', and considering the condition you were in when we happened across you I'm betting he meant you."

"Impmon!" snapped Agumon again, but found himself cut off by a sigh from the white seal.

"You tell me… then we'll both know," Gomamon quipped, shaking her head slightly. Sea green eyes scanned the four curious faces before her, and the little seal let out another sigh as she went on, "I don't understand it myself, so I don't know how to explain…"

"Try."

Nodding, Gomamon looked at the violet Virus and said, "All right. I'll do the best I can. Maybe we can all figure this out…"

Taking a deep breath, the white seal began her story. In her mind's eye, Gomamon recalled how clear the water had been as she swam around, how nice the cool liquid had felt as it flowed freely around her body…

"I was swimming around and exploring the way I normally do whenever I manage to slip away from my guardians…"

"Your…guardians…?"

"Uh-huh. A bunch of older digimon who used to be close friends of my parents before they… passed away. They're the closest thing to a family I have, even if they do tend to be more than a little overbearing at times… especially when it comes to letting me explore."

The trio of goggle-mons nodded understandingly, while Impmon just sniffed and shook her head.

"I can never get why you guys let yourselves be bossed around so much."

"Well, like I said, I don't let them control me – if I wanna do something, I just slip off and do it. They can't boss me around…"

Impmon just nodded at that, though the knowing smirk did not leave her face.

"Anyway, while I was out looking around, I met this…" Gomamon grimaced, normally cheerful face seeming to darken slightly as she muttered, "overgrown sea snake…"

"You mean Seadramon," pointed out Veemon matter-of-factly.

The sea Rookie nodded, continuing, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what he said his name was. He comes slithering up to me through the water and claims he was sent by Whamon – one of my guardians," she explained quickly, "to find out where I was and bring me back. I swear, I don't know why he thought he could trick me like that… Did he actually believe that I'd just trustingly go along with him just 'cause he claimed he was a friend? I mean, my guardians are a pretty closed group – they wouldn't trust just anyone, let alone get anyone else involved with looking for me…"

"Feh. Some higher level digimon seem to think that level is linked to intelligence," spat Impmon, shaking her head in disgust. "Probably figured that since you're a Rookie, you'd naively trust the 'all-knowing Champion'," and the demon made air quotes with her gloved claws as she spoke.

All five of the gathered Rookies glanced at one another knowingly, silently sharing their dissatisfaction with the bias they faced from older digimon – all save Guilmon, who just blinked innocently and looked a bit confused.

"So what did you do, then?" prompted Veemon, propping his head in his hands as he leaned forward slightly.

Gomamon smiled mischievously as she replied, "I called some of my Marching Fishies and had them charge straight at his eyes. Ol' Seadramon wasn't expecting me to react like that, I guess, and when he reared back I signaled to my fish to retreat and swam off as fast as I could." Her smile faded somewhat, however, and became more rueful as she added, "I forgot one small detail, though."

"What's that?" asked Guilmon.

"Simple: Overgrown sea snakes can swim a lot faster than little white seals."

Guilmon blinked.

"…Oh."

"You managed to get away, however," Veemon pointed out. "I mean, when we found you on the beach, you were just knocked out – you didn't look like you'd been beaten within an inch of your life or anything…"

Gomamon gave the blue dragon an odd look, as did Agumon, Impmon, and even Guilmon. After a moment of being stared at by his companions, Veemon coughed nervously, sweatdropping as his mistake dawned on him.

"…Sorry…"

"…It's okay…" Gomamon smiled again, though this one seemed a bit forced. "To be honest, I'm not really certain about what happened next… Seadramon caught up to me and managed to get part of his tail wrapped around me so I couldn't move. I tried to get away, but he just kept tightening his coils around me and gloating about something… something about having what his master wanted now…"

"…Master?" queried Guilmon, blinking.

"You happen to know of anyone who'd want to capture you, kiddo?" Impmon asked, frowning thoughtfully.

"Other than that Seadramon, no…"

"…So he had you, but then you managed to slip away again, right?" Agumon guessed.

"…Yeah, but… I'm not really sure how…"

"What does that mean?" Impmon asked, fixing the seal Rookie with a piercing stare.

"…I…" Gomamon shook her head slowly, as if trying to clear it. "…Like I said, I don't remember a whole lot… I just remember that he was slowly crushing me, and I couldn't breathe… I tried to scream, and then… everything just went white…"

She trailed off, shrugged, then gazed around at her four companions as she finished, "Next thing I know, I'm waking up in some cave with a bunch of strangers surrounding me."

"Ah… But we're not strangers anymore," chimed Guilmon. "We're friends, right?"

Gomamon looked at the crimson dinosaur for a long moment, then smiled and nodded.

"Right. Sounds great to me…"

"Yeah! Great!" trilled Veemon, grinning hugely.

Impmon just rolled her eyes at the others, but didn't bother to comment on their childish simplicity this time. Not only did she have a feeling that her words would be either ignored or unheard, but this situation did have the potential to work in her favor… Perhaps Gomamon would be willing to surrender information about her medallion willingly to a 'friend'…

Of course, Guilmon had no such ulterior motive: the red dinosaur was just excited that he'd met another nice digimon who wanted to be his friend. Grinning widely, he leaned forward and touched Gomamon lightly with one claw.

"Let's play! You're it!" he declared, then whirled and bounded away before any of his companions could respond.

Impmon recovered first, and quickly dashed out of the small cavern after Guilmon. She wasn't really all that interested in playing, but it would be much easier to go along with it this way than allow herself to be tagged and forced to actually look for these guys… Though normally if that occurred, she'd likely simply walk off and leave them waiting for her to find them, it wouldn't earn her any points with the newcomer…

Agumon and Veemon scrambled off next, and Gomamon blinked, then giggled as she started after them. However, the little white seal quickly discovered a slight problem: being far more used to swimming than running, she could not move as fast as she was used to. The speed she attained in water dwarfed by far her clumsy, fumbling steps over the ground and sand.

It took a few minutes for the others to realize they were not being pursued with the same speed they were used to, and Agumon was the first to turn around and stare back in confusion. When Gomamon came stumbling into view, the orange lizard blinked, perplexed by her slow pace, then cried out as she tripped and landed flat on her face. His shout brought the others back, and Guilmon immediately ran to the fallen seal's side, the game forgotten for now.

"What's wrong?" he asked, ears drooping a bit.

Gomamon looked up at the towering crimson dinosaur and gave a lopsided smile.

"Sorry," she apologized, shaking her head. "I'm not really used to land travel…"

"That would be a problem," Impmon observed mildly.

"Oh." Guilmon's flap-ears lowered a bit more, and he bowed his head, murmuring, "Sorry…"

"Not your fault," and Gomamon righted herself, waving off Veemon's attempt to 'help'.

"Well then," Agumon said after a moment, green eyes brightening as a solution hit him, "Let's all go down to the beach and play! That should – OW!"

This last was caused by Impmon's stepping up behind the lizard and smacking him across the back of the head. The other three sweatdropped in unison as Agumon staggered a bit, gripping the place the demon Rookie had struck him. Then, growling, he spun to glare at her.

"What was that for?" he demanded angrily.

Impmon seemed unaffected by his rage, and merely fixed the fuming lizard with a cold glare, verdant eyes frosty.

"Idiot. Have you forgotten how we happened to meet Gomamon here in the first place?"

"…Huh?"

Impmon sighed, rolling her eyes at the lizard's inability to catch on.

"You fought Seadramon, didn't you?"

"Yes…"

"And you didn't bother to delete him, did you?" she went on, glaring at him.

Gomamon let out a gasp, aquamarine eyes going wide.

"Hey, he ran off before I had the chance to!" Agumon defended himself. Noticing a shocked look on the white seal's face, he quickly added, "Not that I would have, anyway!"

"Feh. What a noble sentiment." Impmon's voice practically oozed sarcasm. "What I'm trying to get at is, that overgrown sea snake is still out there. We try going for a swim while he's lurking around looking for his 'target' –" she narrowed her jaden eyes meaningfully at Gomamon here "–he's likely to attack again. And this time we wouldn't have the advantage of surprise, even if we do get that little digivice thing to work for ya again."

The other Rookies exchanged a nervous look as the truth of her words dawned on them. Gomamon stared at her saviors in surprise.

"You have a digivice?" she inquired.

Agumon nodded, and held out the ancient artifact so the white seal could see it better. Gomamon studied it intently, sea green eyes wide with wonderment.

"You know about the digivices, Goma?" asked Veemon.

"Sure I do. Only a just hatched Fresh hasn't heard the old legends at least once," she replied. "I'd heard that they allow any digimon to reach a higher level without having to attain it naturally… Is that how you beat Seadramon?"

Agumon nodded again.

"Yeah… but then I changed right back after the fight…"

"That's not surprising," commented Gomamon. "After all, the ancient artifacts are supposed to give their bearers only the power they need… I guess you didn't need it anymore after you drove Seadramon off…"

"I guess that's true…"

"What else do you know about the ancient artifacts, Goma?" asked Guilmon, tilting his head slightly to one side.

Gomamon shrugged and admitted, "Not a whole lot. I do know that there were rumored to be more than one type of digivice, and that they each had different abilities, but… All I know for certain are the basics." She grimaced for a moment, adding, "Whamon always told me I didn't need to hear such fantasy stories…"

"Funny, this doesn't look like something out of a fantasy story," Impmon commented dryly, waving one gloved hand at the digivice Agumon held.

"No kidding," and Veemon crossed his arms. Looking around at his companions, the blue dragon went on, "So… what now? If we can't go back to the beach right now… Should we go ahead and see if Wormy can find any more info on the digivices?"

"Sounds like a plan," agreed Agumon, nodding slowly as he fingered the small device.

"Well then, I guess that means you'll have to follow us to Shuppatsu-ten," observed Impmon, glancing over at Gomamon. "You can't go back home yet with that sea serpent hanging around…"

And I'll be damned if I let you slip off before I figure out what's bugging me about your little pendant, the violet Virus added silently as her verdant gaze once again rested on the marine digimon's medallion.

"I don't mind," Gomamon answered, smiling. "I'd love to see what your home is like… I haven't really been able to see any land villages, after all…"

With their destination settled, the five Rookies started off for home. Gomamon soon started to fall behind again, still unused to walking over the rough land instead of sweeping gracefully though the water. The seal tested each step carefully, not wanting to slip and fall again, yet loathing the concept of being left in the dust by her companions.

Noticing her discomfort, Guilmon frowned slightly: he didn't like seeing anyone else struggling. Then a wide grin spread over the crimson dinosaur's face as he thought of a solution. Stopping short, he turned and scooped the white seal into his large arms, much to the surprise of his friends.

"Hey, what…?" Gomamon exclaimed, a rosy blush of embarrassment spreading over her cheeks as she noticed the expressions on the others' faces. "Wh-what are you…?"

"Don't worry – if I carry you, then you won't have to worry about being left behind!" explained Guilmon, beaming at his own ingenuity.

Agumon shook his head and turned away, a bemused smile on his face. Impmon eyed Guilmon's wide grin and silently debated whether or not she should point out that Gomamon would have to practice walking if she wished to get used to it. Then she noticed the seal's fierce blush, and the expression of pure jealousy that contorted Veemon's face.

Smirking, Impmon decided to let it be for now.

With that issue settled for the time being, the group of five Rookies continued on the path back to their home village. As they walked, Gomamon appeared to gradually adjust to the feeling of being carried: the blush faded a bit, and she took advantage of the situation to study their surroundings better. Sea green eyes shone with awe as they took in things they had never fallen upon before, and a wondering smile crept over the sea digimon's face as she gazed about, taking in everything as best she could.

As they drew closer to the village, Impmon drifted further away from the rest of the small group. With a sudden movement, she sprang nimbly from the beaten path and into the boughs of the trees alongside the road. Gomamon noticed this and stared up at the demon digimon in confusion.

"Impmon…what…?" she started to ask, having difficulty picking out the Virus among the shadowy leaves.

"Ah, don't mind her," Veemon piped up, smiling reassuringly at the perplexed seal. "See, Impy's got a bit of a rep in Shuppatsu-ten… she prefers to be seen as a bit of a loner, that she doesn't need anyone. Walking into town with us isn't her style. Don't worry, though: even if you can't see her all the time, Impy'll still be shadowing us…"

As if to verify his claim, a small crimson fireball shot out from the treetops and struck the blue dragon's tail, causing him to jump and let out a yelp of surprise.

"Don't call me Impy!"

Gomamon just sweatdropped as Veemon hastily fanned off his flaming tail and went back to admiring the world above water. It was safer.

Shuppatsu-ten was a relatively modest place as villages went: the buildings were constructed mainly of stone and wood, the streets paved with various pebbles and stones, trees lining their sides. In the ancient organic world, it would have passed for a quaint little village, were it not for several factors.

One of the most notable of these details was that all of the buildings and entrances were designed to admit many types of towering digimon easily. Since a few Champions lived in Shuppatsu-ten, things were constructed to admit the larger residents easily. One of the houses, for example, had an especially wide and spacious yard, which served more as a landing area for the resident Birdramon when he returned home after scouting the area. The market's windows were designed so that several items that would appeal to a younger digimon could be easily seen from walking along the street, while another display was set higher to catch the eye of any adults wandering past.

The doorway to one such shop swung open, admitting a trio of female Rookies out onto the streets. One of the three paused and tugged nervously on a vibrantly colored violet scarf wrapped round her neck, glancing at her companions with nervous blue eyes.

"Are you absolutely certain about this?"

"Wormy, believe me, those are perfect for you!" gushed Palmon, threading her vine-like fingers together and tilting her head to one side as a wide smile spread over her face.

"Besides, we already paid for them and all, so it's pointless to keep protesting," added Biyomon under her breath.

Despite her blunt comment, however, the pink avian was actually quite pleased. After some cajoling, they had managed to get Wormmon to pick out a couple of charms to match the ones she and Palmon both wore, and both trinkets were now snugly attached to the violet-red bandana they had also picked out for the shy larva digimon. Biyomon eyed the little designs: a Light symbol to match the ones the other girls wore, and the bud-like design of Kindness, which resembled nothing so much as a rose just about to bloom.

The latter in particular suited Wormmon well, Biyomon decided as she walked beside her two best friends. The withdrawn young caterpillar was so compassionate, always thinking of others before herself… She was like a delicate flower ready to blossom, but never doing so, always holding herself back for various reasons… Always concerned, always worrying about somebody else…

Especially one in particular, Biyomon thought, and sapphire eyes narrowed a bit in recalled anger.

Naturally, this seemed to be a cue for a small group of Rookies to round the corner and walk straight into her line of vision. Biyomon stopped dead in her tracks, then glared, storming toward them.

"_Agumon!_"

The orange lizard stopped cold, green eyes widening, whatever he had been in the midst of saying dying on his tongue. His companions also paused, some understanding the delay better than others.

"Agumon? What's wrong…?" Gomamon queried, staring wide-eyed at the expression on his face.

Veemon chuckled nervously, a sweatdrop rolling down the back of his head as he tugged on Guilmon's tail and whispered, "Come on buddy, let's leave 'fore the hurricane hits…"

"Gee, thanks for standing by me in my time of need," Agumon muttered dryly, but he made no move to restrain his friends as they hurried off.

Gomamon stared back at him over Guilmon's shoulder, curiosity lighting her aquamarine eyes. Why were Veemon and Guilmon running off and leaving their fellow goggle-mon behind?

When Biyomon got to Agumon and immediately launched into a loud, squawking tirade, the white seal instantly understood, shrinking back down into the safety of Guilmon's arms in fright.

"Where the heck were you? How could you run off with your little friends again like that? Did you forget what we were planning on doing today? I can't believe you!"

"She's at it again…" Palmon observed mildly, shaking her head at the sight of her avian friend wasting no time in tearing into the lizard.

"Uh-huh," affirmed Wormmon, sweatdropping at the display.

Feeling a tap on what passed for her shoulder, the green caterpillar turned away from the fight. Bright blue eyes met crimson, and Wormmon gasped, then sighed with relief.

"Vee…"

"Hiya, sis," Veemon said, grinning despite the small sweatdrop running down the side of his head as Biyomon's tirade continued unabated. "Hey, there's something I wanna show you… would it be okay if we went back home?"

Wormmon cast a glance toward her friends: Palmon was still caught up in staring at Biyomon as the rose-feathered bird berated Agumon. The larva Rookie's antennae drooped slightly: it was painfully obvious that the avian wouldn't be finished for quite some time. Turning back to her older brother, Wormmon nodded once.

"Sure, let's go."

"Great!"

Veemon placed one hand on his little sister's back and guided her away from the scene developing behind them, over to where Guilmon and Gomamon were waiting. As the four hustled off, on the rooftops above them, Impmon cast a final glance back at where Biyomon was tearing into Agumon mercilessly. The demon chuckled at the display before turning around and trailing the others, not wanting to miss any possible clues to the key behind the digivice's power…

"Why do you keep insisting on running away all the time? Don't you know how dangerous it is outside? What if you ran into a wild digimon or something?"

"Guil, Vee and I can take care of ourselves…"

Agumon knew even as he blurted out the automatic, defensive response that he would regret it. Biyomon instantly pinned the sweatdropping orange reptile with a coldly disbelieving glare, her sapphire eyes frosting over.

"Typical guy," she spat angrily. "Have you forgotten that we're only Rookies? If you ran into even a single higher-level digimon, it wouldn't matter if you outnumbered it or not! You could all be deleted!"

"Give a mon a little credit…"

"Why should I?"

Unable to think of a good answer for that, Agumon glanced nervously away, seeking the sympathetic faces of his friends rather than the avian's rage. Unfortunately, it quickly dawned on him that he would be finding no such refuge: there was no sign of his fellow goggle-mons or the new arrival. Even Impmon was out of sight, something that mildly surprised him: typically the violet Virus loved to watch Biyomon tear into him like this so she could tease him about it later.

Noticing another absent face – that of Veemon's sister Wormmon – Agumon realized that the others were moving forward on their quest to discover more about the digivice.

A wave of mild annoyance washed over the reptile. If they learned anything more about the ancient artifact, he wanted to know as soon as possible. If he missed something important and ended up hearing about it secondhand…

Biyomon was still going on, lecturing him about his recklessness. It came down to a choice: stay until the bird wound down her tirade and risk missing something important, or leave now and risk incurring even more of her wrath and an even bigger explosion the next time she tracked him down.

Not the most difficult of decisions.

"We'll talk about this later, 'kay?" he spit out rapidly as Biyomon paused to take a breath. Not giving her a chance to reply, he darted off, added as he headed into the crowd, "Bye Biyo!"

"W-what?" Biyomon gasped, scandalized. How _dare_ he run off when she wasn't finished scolding him yet!

Agumon was right about one thing, though. They most certainly _would_ talk about this later… and she'd make certain he regretted blowing her off like that.

"Boy, he's acting weird," commented Palmon as the flower digimon sauntered up to her friend's side. Staring after where the orange reptile had fled, she added, "Wonder what his problem is…"

"I don't know…" Biyomon shook her head, glaring in the same direction. "But I'm going to find out…"

"Momentai, B-ko," Palmon soothed, eager to get the bird's mind off Agumon's impending doom. "What say we just hit a few more stores so you can blow off some of that steam before it comes out your ears?" Turning around, she added, "Is that okay with you, Wor…Wormmon?"

Biyomon looked around as well to find the green caterpillar was nowhere to be found. Initial confusion quickly gave way to frustration: in focusing on Agumon, she had missed her friend's wandering off. She had a pretty good idea, however, of what had caused the larva Rookie to leave…

"…Veemon," she said, sapphire eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "She probably went off with him… He's the only one who could convince her to leave without saying a word to us…"

"You're probably right." Palmon folded her arms behind her head, verdant eyes becoming quizzical as she wondered aloud, "But why would he want that? I mean, he's never shown much interest in dragging her along on one of his adventures…"

"…Something's going on," Biyomon frowned as she went on, "This isn't adding up at all… The boys are acting odd, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but…what do you think…"

"I think we should try to find them, don't you? If they're hiding anything, we should find out about it as soon as possible… just in case they're planning something like that incident a while back…"

Palmon winced, then nodded agreement. The flower digimon let her companion take the lead as they started off in the same direction that Agumon had gone, intent on tracking him down… and getting some answers concerning his strange behavior…


	4. Questioning, Open Mind

Level 04: Questioning, Open Mind

"…So, that's the story." Veemon cocked his head to one side, grinning. "You think there's anything in your little library that can help out…?"

Wormmon just stared back at her brother with sky blue eyes roughly the size of dinner plates. Veemon got the distinct impression that her jaw would have impacted the floor had it been hinged in such a way that made it possible. However, the shock and disbelief written on her pale green face was clear enough.

The dragon Rookie sweatdropped and wondered if he had approached this subject in the wrong manner. While pulling his sister aside, leading her back to their house, and explaining what he wanted seemed simple enough, flashing the digivice at her appeared to have put the larva digimon in a state of shock.

"Hey, are you okay?" Gomamon piped up, eyeing Wormmon with no small amount of concern.

"What's wrong, Wormmon?" added Guilmon, cocking his head slightly to one side curiously.

"…A…digivice…?" Wormmon blinked slowly, staring directly at the device in question as she whispered, "You found… a digivice…?"

"Uh-huh." Guilmon nodded vigorously, a huge grin appearing on his face. "Back in this new passage we found in the caverns nearby – you know the ones, right? Isn't it great?"

"Do you know of anything explaining how to use one, Wormmon?" asked Veemon. "I know you're into reading about all sorts of things, so…"

"I…don't quite recall," Wormmon replied, shaking her head as she came out of her initial shock. "…All the tales I've read usually refer to digivices and the other ancient artifacts as just legends… but…"

"But what?" Veemon prompted as she trailed off. "C'mon, sis, there's gotta be something…"

"…I'll start looking into it right away," decided the larva Rookie, nodding mostly to herself as she added, "I'll let you know as soon as I find something."

"Thanks, Wormy," Veemon said as he watched his sister scuttle over to a shelf and begin sorting through some junk, searching through the scattered files.

"Oh, it's okay, big brother," she answered, turning to smile at the sapphire dragon, bright blue eyes twinkling. "I'm happy to do what I can…"

"Hey, is it alright if we look around, too?" Gomamon piped up.

"Of course! We're likely to find something faster if we all work together."

"Yeah!" Guilmon cheered, and the crimson dinosaur immediately turned and began shifting through things himself, sniffing the air as if expecting to root the information out by tracking its scent.

Veemon shook his head at his friend's actions, then began to look around himself. His younger sister's room was filled with various sources of knowledge: while a lot of information was available in computer terminals and such, it wasn't as if other forms of media had vanished entirely. Not all digimon had access to lots of technology, since work on those fields had fallen out of style after the merge. Many found it easier to deal with tangible objects like books and such, which explained the rather impressive collection of tomes Wormmon had managed to gather in her room.

"Here's one of my old storybooks on the legend of the ancient artifacts," Wormmon called out after a short while, pulling the book in question out.

"Let me see it," Veemon insisted, reaching toward the tome.

The blue dragon had a legitimate reason for this action: both siblings knew that Wormmon wasn't exactly used to being the center of attention. She tended to become very nervous whenever others focused a lot on her, a problem Veemon rarely suffered from. The little green Rookie would be much more comfortable looking on and helping her brother if he struggled with reading something than having all eyes completely on her.

Plus, Veemon had caught a glimpse of a very familiar figure moving among the shadows outside one of the windows. Impmon was probably listening very intently to whatever was said in the small room. If Wormmon did attempt to read the passage aloud to the others, her soft, whispering voice would be difficult for the violet Virus to pick up on – and the last thing Veemon wanted to see was Impy upset with his sister…

"Just a second…" Wormmon flipped through the pages, then held the book out to her brother, keeping it open with one of her front legs so she didn't lose her place.

Veemon took it from her and glanced down at the crinkled pages, crimson eyes briefly scanning the printed words for what they were looking for. Suddenly, his gaze was torn upward toward the doorway as the sharp sound of footfalls betrayed the arrival of another digimon. The others looked up as well as the door was thrown open, revealing the panting figure of a certain goggle-wearing lizard.

"St…starting without me, Vee?" queried Agumon between gasps, and he walked slowly toward the group. "That's hardly fair…"

"Well, we didn't know how long you would be," replied Veemon lightly, grinning.

The sapphire dragon did have the grace to look a bit sheepish, though that was tempered by a hint of relief in his smile. He honestly was surprised that Agumon had been able to get away from Biyomon so soon. Brushing it off by deciding that perhaps the pink avian had wanted to get back to shopping, he allowed Agumon enough time to settle into a spot before returning his attention to the book in his hands.

"Now let's see here…" Scarlet eyes scanned over the tome, then glinted with satisfaction as they fell upon the passage they were seeking out. "Ah, here we go."

"So, what does it say?" prompted Gomamon, shifting slightly where she sat next to Guilmon.

"Ah… 'During the merging of the two worlds, the digital and the or… oragn… orange…?"

"Organic," Wormmon supplied for her struggling brother.

"Right, 'the organic worlds, several items of power mysteriously appeared to aid the digimon in their struggle against the cruel beings known as 'humans'. The first of these items of power came to be known as 'digivices', small devices that could be held and operated even by the smallest Fresh, provided that they were aligned with them.'"

"…Aligned?" queried Guilmon, cocking his head to one side curiously.

"'The digivices were capable of granting any digimon the ability to reach a higher level, giving the chosen one a surge of power by reacting with something within them. This was done by establishing a link between both the item of power and the digimon. It is unknown how exactly this bond was created: the digivices seemed to choose the ones they gifted somewhat randomly.'"

"………"

Outside the window, Impmon frowned thoughtfully, jaden eyes narrowing as she recalled the beam of light that had shot from the digivice and struck Agumon. The purple demon remembered how it had completely avoided striking her or Veemon, despite the fact that they were closer, instead arcing off toward the orange goggle-lizard… almost as if drawn directly to him…

"…Maybe it wasn't just dumb luck," she murmured under her breath. "Maybe it ignored me 'cause it'd already chosen him…"

"'Once choosing the fortunate digimon on which it bestowed its gift, the digivice would give its power only to its special warrior,'" Veemon continued, also beginning to frown thoughtfully as he read aloud. "'The chosen one, with time, would learn how to use the item of power to control their digivolution completely…'"

He trailed off, then looked around at the rest of his friends, annoyance evident in his expression.

"…So you're the only one that can use that digivice then, Agumon? Man, that sucks," he griped.

"No fair… I wanted to digivolve too…" Guilmon pouted, his ear-fins drooping as his golden eyes watered. However, the crestfallen expression swiftly vanished as he turned back to Veemon and prompted, "What else does it say, Vee?"

"Yeah, does it say exactly how the 'chosen ones' used the digivices?" added Agumon.

Veemon dropped his gaze to the book again, then sighed and shook his head.

"Nuh-uh. It talks a bit about that there were different types of digivices, and some had different powers in addition to allowing digivolution, but it doesn't go into any more detail…"

"…So we're pretty much back where we started," Agumon griped, emerald eyes glinting with frustration as he looked down.

"That's not true!" insisted Guilmon, smiling widely. "We found out that the digivice belongs to you now, 'cause you're the one it chose!"

"…Yeah, that's right," Veemon agreed, reaching down and picking up the digivice from where he had set it. Turning toward his best friend, the blue dragon held it out and added, "Here ya go… Guess you'd better keep it with ya, then…"

"…Right…"

Agumon nodded agreement and reached out to take the ancient artifact. However, just as his claws brushed the small object, a sharp gasp caused the entire group of Rookies to freeze where they were. All heads turned instantly towards the door, and the source of the gasp, and Agumon bit back a gasp of his own.

"What…exactly…is going on here?" Biyomon stammered from where she stood in the doorway with Palmon, bright blue eyes fixed upon the strange device in Veemon's outstretched hand. "What… is that thing…?"

"Biyomon… Palmon… Um…" Veemon stammered, frozen where he stood.

The blue dragon desperately wanted to yank his arm back and hide it from them, take the digivice out of sight, but for some reason could not find the strength to move. It was like their shocked stares rooted him to the floor, rendering him completely motionless.

"Biyo… Look…" Agumon soothed, managing a shaky half-step forward. "We… we found one of the ancient artifacts… a digivice…"

Biyomon gasped sharply again, her eyes widening a fraction. Behind her, Palmon looked on in amazement, her liquid green eyes also locked upon the digivice. Her gaze flicked briefly to Wormmon: the larva Rookie blanched and lowered her head, ashamed.

"No… You're lying…" the rose-feathered Rookie stuttered, shaking her head in denial, though her gaze never once shifted from the device in Veemon's hand.

"No, I'm not," insisted Agumon.

The time for lying and hiding their discovery was over – much sooner than he had expected, true, but that couldn't be helped. It was time to admit everything… to reveal the truth about what he and his fellow goggle-mons had uncovered. Time to prove to Biyomon she was wrong all along…

"We found this earlier," he informed her, the firm tone of his voice reinforcing the truth of his words. "It's a digivice, one of the ancient artifacts of power. We found it, and guess what? It really works. We… I used it earlier…"

"…Stop it… Just stop…" Biyomon interrupted, shaking her head violently.

"Biyo…"

"I… I've got to go report this to the elder… You… you just stay right here, all of you… Palmon, don't let any of them leave…"

"…Sure," Palmon replied, nodding once. The flower Rookie still looked completely dazed, her eyes wide with shock.

"…Just…stay right there until I come back for you…" Biyomon repeated, edging away.

"…Biyo…" Agumon tried one more time, taking another shaky step forward.

The pink Rookie just backed away a few more steps, then whirled on her heel and took off, dashing out of sight. Agumon jolted as if struck and started forward, then stopped and sighed. There was no point in chasing after her right now: the avian would take off flying the moment she set foot outdoors, and there'd be no stopping her until she'd reported to the elder what she'd seen.

Instead, the orange lizard turned away from the doorway, avoiding meeting Palmon's shocked gaze, and looked back toward the other Rookies. Veemon and Wormmon had gone completely pale, the dragon's arm finally falling limp at his side while his sister shuddered. Gomamon and Guilmon both looked completely confused; the former because she didn't fully understand what was happening, the latter because he couldn't believe their friend had run off like that.

Outside, Impmon cursed vividly under her breath and incinerated a few leaves close to her perch with a few randomly launched fireballs. Things just weren't going her way right now…

A short time later – all too soon, it seemed to the young demon – Impmon had exchanged her previous vantage point outside Wormmon's window for another perch on a tree just outside the elder's home. The violet Virus paced the length of her branch a few times, glaring into the chamber each time she passed the window.

Once again, her status as a loner regulated her to remain outside looking in at the action. However, this time it was definitely to her advantage: her current position was much preferred compared to that of her previous companions. When Biyomon had returned, she had tersely told the whole lot of them that they had been summoned by the elder and had to follow her to him immediately.

However, Impmon was not completely alone on her perch this time. While most of the other Rookies had been herded into the elder's chambers, poor little Gomamon had been held back since she wasn't recognized as a native of the village. Guilmon, Veemon, Agumon and even Wormmon had attempted to vouch for her to no avail. Ironically enough, it had been Impmon's interference, with a few well-timed fireballs and a quick jump down and back up to the safety of the trees, that had kept the marine digimon from being completely separated from the others.

Currently, the seal Rookie was clinging to one of the thickest branches, sea green eyes alight with worry as she switched between watching her new friends and casting fearful glances at her unlikely companion.

"You promise you won't let me fall?" she asked shakily, adjusting her footing slightly. She wasn't built for climbing trees, and the fact that she was this high above ground when she's never really set foot out of the water…

"Don't worry 'bout it," insisted Impmon, shooting the Vaccine a glare. "We've got more important things to worry about right now…"

Gomamon gulped, then nodded slowly, and both turned their attention back to what was happening inside.

At that moment, Agumon would have gladly traded spots with either of them – anything to avoid having to stare nervously up at the imposing figure of the village elder. Shuppatsu-ten was governed by the digimon who had achieved their own Champion form before any of the other current Champions in the village, of which there was only a handful.

The elder's deep orange skin was marked with both deep blue stripes down his back and a few scars, and one of his scarlet eyes was a few shades darker than the other. An injury incurred during a storm several years back had nearly robbed the Champion of his left eye, and while he had received healing in time to salvage it, his sight had been hampered a bit, not nearly as clear as it had been in his youth.

He was practically a mirror image of the Champion form Agumon had achieved a short while before. This was with very good reason, of course… after all, the two were related. Perhaps that was why Agumon felt especially uncomfortable underneath the elder's steady gaze as Greymon studied the small band before him.

"So…" the elder stated, his deep voice rumbling gently in the chamber. "You discovered a hidden passageway in the caverns, and when you explored it…"

"…We found that digivice, sir," Veemon replied, shakily pointing at the ancient artifact where it had been set before his leader.

"…And have any of you… been able to activate the digivice's powers yet?" Greymon asked slowly, as if weighing each word carefully before speaking them aloud.

"I have, father," declared Agumon, stepping forward. The young reptile's verdant eyes shone brightly as he blurted, "Oh, father, it was amazing! I'd never felt so powerful before – it was strange, but felt really good at the same time. It was like this energy just poured into me, and I felt like I was on fire, but it didn't hurt at all! And guess what – my Champion form is a Greymon! I'm just like you, father!"

Caught up in the excitement of relating the change, Agumon did not notice at first that the elder did not appear quite as ecstatic as he was. Instead, the older dinosaur merely gazed down at his son with oddly expressionless red eyes. Gradually, Agumon became aware of the way the very air around his father seemed to be growing thick with a strange heaviness, and emerged from his giddy mood.

"…Father…? What's wrong…?"

Still the elder digimon said nothing, merely staring down at Agumon and his friends, a serious expression on his face. From her vantage point outside, Gomamon could still clearly see the grim look on Greymon's face, and felt a small lump rise in her throat for reasons she couldn't put a name to yet. Beside her, Impmon frowned, the shadows around her crouching figure seeming to darken slightly as her emerald eyes glittered.

"…Has anyone else been touched by the digivice's power yet?" the Champion inquired.

"…No, elder," Agumon said carefully, wondering if he had somehow upset Greymon by forgetting to address him using his title. The little lizard didn't see why that would bother his father, however, since the only other digimon here were a few of his level-mates and friends…

Greymon's steady gaze studied each of the youthful faces before him carefully, searching for some sign that they were hiding anything from him. Each one's eyes displayed only honesty and curiosity, however: there was no sign of deception in their open, innocent expressions. The Champion heaved a heavy sigh, for he also could tell that none of them realized the true gravity of the situation yet.

"…Agumon. Are you and your friends aware of the legends behind the lost artifacts of power?"

The children nodded almost in perfect unison, each one's wide eyes reflecting slightly differing emotions depending on their exact views of such matters. However, the elder could still not see any true comprehension dawning on their faces yet. He grimaced: this would not be easy…

"The ancient artifacts are rumored to hold tremendous powers – abilities that were far too powerful to allow to fall into the hands of just any digimon. That is why they have been allowed to fade into the mists of time, existing only in stories and legends… Because it is feared what may happen were they to fall into the wrong hands…"

Agumon frowned, and asked carefully, "Fa…Elder, does this mean you're planning to take the digivice away?" The prospect didn't please the orange dinosaur in the slightest: _after finally finding something like this, we have to lose it again?_

A dry chuckle that seemed forced somehow emitted from the elder digimon, and he gave his son a strangely sorrowful look.

"If only it were that," he murmured softly, then drew himself up to his full height. His tone became a bit colder as he went on, "The ancient artifacts are powerful indeed, but are also said to contain great danger. It has been claimed that they attract the forces of darkness, who seek only to extinguish their light, not wanting it to be wielded against them. Any who have been touched by that power are also considered a threat…"

The Rookies exchanged looks, varying expressions of confusion, fear and shock on their faces. Outside, Impmon felt her stomach clench as it dawned on her what was likely to occur next.

He wouldn't… not his own…

Greymon drew himself up farther, taking another deep breath and hardening his gaze as best he could as he stared down at Agumon.

"By activating the power of the digivice and using it upon yourself, you have made yourself a target," he pronounced grimly. "Because of this, it is no longer safe for you to stay here. Were you to stay here, it would only put everyone else at risk of deletion. Tomorrow morning, you are to leave Shuppatsu-ten – for the good of the village."

Silence. A hissing intake of breath from one of the children as they swallowed a sharp gasp, the elder's proclamation sending a wave of shock through the group. Greymon ignored how the once trusting faces contorted with surprise, outrage and terror as his words crashed down upon them, his attention focused entirely on Agumon.

Agumon blinked, a blank expression on his face. Then, slowly, a tremulous laugh came from the orange lizard, sounding weak and pathetic in the echoing chamber.

"This is…a joke, right?" he asked, in a tone somewhere between amusement and desperation. "You… you can't mean that, fa—"

"You are to gather your things and rest in the village tonight," the elder interrupted, not wanting to hear that word pass through his so…through the young lizard's lips. "In the morning you are to depart. You can say your farewells now or save them until then."

Agumon's mouth worked silently as he stared at the Champion digimon. His vision blurred slightly as tears began to fill his widened green eyes. His legs trembled, yet he remained standing, not wanting to give in to the hurt and the fear and the pain he was feeling. Not in front of his friends… in front of his father… not now.

So instead, he forced back down the numerous protests and cries surging through his mind, looked up at his elder, and nodded once in acknowledgement – not understanding.

"…As you wish… elder…"

With that, he turned on his heel and walked slowly out of the chamber. Behind him trailed the other Rookies, each youthful face filled with shock and disbelief. Outside, Gomamon just stared in blank shock, unable to believe what she had just witnessed.

"A-Agumon…" the seal digimon whispered, tears springing to her widened sea green eyes.

Beside her, Impmon slammed one gloved fist into the rough back of the tree, ignoring the harsh thump her action caused. It seemed she needed to feel her balled hands hammering away at something, that the feel of her knuckles against a strong, unyielding target afforded her some small satisfaction.

"Damn!" the Virus cursed, verdant eyes smoldering. "That idiot!"

Gomamon shot her unlikely companion a horrified look, not because of the demon's coarse language, but because she needed desperately some form of reassurance.

"Impmon… Tell me this isn't happening!"

Silence, as the violet Virus fixed the white Vaccine with a cool glance that sent shivers racing down the seal's spine. After a few moments, she slowly withdrew her fist from where she had slammed it into the bark and reached toward Gomamon.

"C'mon," she prompted, motioning for Gomamon to get up. "Better get you outta here and to the others right now… I think they'll need some comforting words, and I ain't hardly the one for givin' them…"

Gomamon stared at her extended hand for a long moment, a variety of emotions playing over her face. Slowly, the horror and shock was replaced by understanding, and the marine digimon nodded agreement. Impmon reached out and seized her flipper, and with a sudden yank pulled the other Rookie off her perch and after her as she sprang into the trees, taking the fastest route she knew…

Agumon stared out at the darkness of his room, unusually silent for once in his life. The young reptile was curled up on his bed, sitting instead of lying back and watching the shadows spread inky fingers across the ceiling. Instead, his dark verdant eyes swept across the space of his room, drinking in all the little details that he'd never really noticed before.

Dust he had stirred up as he stumbled through the mess searching for certain items drifted lazily in midair, catching the silver moonlight that streamed through the window and flickering brightly, like countless points of data dispersing through the space before his eyes…

The soft, muted tread of footsteps passing by did little to rouse Agumon from his silent staring, even when they paused briefly at his door before hurrying away, their owner choosing to not even enter. He had received visits from most of his friends and fellow Rookies throughout the afternoon, each having heard the news either firsthand or from one of the few who had been by his side when he had learned of his fate.

Veemon had been one of the first, and stayed for quite some time, along with his sibling Wormmon. The poor green Rookie had gotten it into her head that everything was somehow her fault, and Veemon had alternated between assuring her that she wasn't to blame and vowing to Agumon that he wasn't about to abandon him now.

"You'll see," the blue dragon had declared, clenching one hand in a fist while patting his sobbing sister on the back with the other. "We'll find a way to fight this. No matter what, Agumon, I swear we'll get through this together…"

Guilmon and Gomamon had offered basically the same promise, though each worded it in their own manner. The crimson dinosaur only wanted to stay by his friend's side, while the white seal affirmed that she planned to repay her debt to her saviors by helping them through whatever trials lay ahead.

Biyomon was one of the ones who had not visited him yet. Somehow Agumon knew she wouldn't be coming. Palmon had confirmed as much when she came to see him, though the flower digimon had merely told him that she was going to support him as best she could – "with or without _her_ help."

Agumon shook his head: hopefully Palmon wouldn't throw away her friendship with the pink avian because of this. The two girls had been close since practically their Fresh days, and the possibility of that bond falling apart now disturbed the orange reptile more than a little bit.

He looked down at the digivice still nestled in his hands. After the elder had pronounced his impending exile because of the ancient artifact, it had been given back to Agumon with the instruction to "keep it with him at all times" – they couldn't risk anyone else coming into contact with it for fear of also triggering its gift.

Turning it over idly in his claws, he wondered not for the first time how something so small could hold so much power – and mess up his life so badly.

A soft, steady tapping by his window followed a rustle of leaves that seemed like it hadn't been caused simply by the wind. Agumon ignored the sound as best he could, having a feeling about its cause… one he didn't like.

His hesitation was rewarded by the scratching becoming louder, more persistent, before abruptly breaking off. The orange reptile sighed at the reprieve.

Then a small pebble flew through the open window and impacted solidly with the side of his head.

Agumon scowled, but remained sitting stubbornly in his bed – he wasn't about to get up just because somebody was resorting to violence to get his attention.

However, when a fist-sized stone whizzed through the window and nicked the back of his neck, he finally relented and jumped to his feet. Stomping to the portal, he glared outside and was not surprised in the slightest at who he saw waiting there for him.

"Took you long enough. I was beginning to wonder if I'd have to start chucking fireballs at ya to get your attention."

"I was wondering about that myself," Agumon shot back, narrowing his eyes suspiciously as he regarded his visitor. "Why didn't you just throw fireballs straight off? Seems a bit more suited to you, after all…"

"What, you actually wanted me to set you on fire?" asked Impmon, smirking and swinging her legs back and forth off the branch she was perched on. However, her emerald eyes abruptly narrowed, the mischievous twinkle fading as she added, "'Sides, I figured that after hearing the news, I could ease up on ya just this once…"

Agumon nodded slowly, muttering under his breath, "Yeah… thanks, I guess…"

Silence, as the two Rookies recalled the events of the day, neither knowing what to say next to the other. Finally, however, Impmon smirked and let out a dark chuckle, regaining Agumon's attention.

"Lucky for you I'm in such a generous mood right now, goggle-mon."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Impmon stopped swinging her legs and stood up, walking the length of the branch over towards the open window as she explained, "I have the perfect way to get you out of this mess. One that just so happens to benefit the both of us."

"…And what would that be?" Agumon inquired, though the reptile already had a pretty good idea of what she meant.

His suspicions were confirmed when the violet Virus reached one gloved hand expectantly toward him.

"Give me the digivice."

"Why should I?"

"Look, goggle-head," Impmon sighed, shaking her head in exasperation, "this is the easiest solution to your problem. The whole reason you're getting kicked out of your own village is 'cause of that digivice. If you didn't have that, you wouldn't have to leave, right?"

"…Right…"

"So give it to me, and I'll be the one leaving instead of you."

Agumon blinked, a little taken aback.

"But you'll never be able to come…"

"I know that, baka! And believe me, the prospect of never coming back to this crummy place doesn't bother me in the least! But I know it's certainly bugging you a whole lot!"

"………"

Impmon leaned a bit closer, ensuring that Agumon could not break away from her intense gaze. Taking a deep breath, she chose her next words carefully, wanting them to make maximum impact on the lizard.

"There is nothing that has ever tied me to Shuppatsu-ten. I don't have any family here, no friends, no home, nothing, no reason to stay other than the simple fact that I felt like it. If I leave tomorrow, I doubt many digimon will notice or care. But you don't have that same freedom. There are plenty of digimon who'll be affected if you go."

"………" Agumon just stared at the violet Virus, his green eyes beginning to waver. "Impmon…"

"Shut up and listen, willya? The point is, this'll benefit both of us! I get what I want and leave this dump, while you get rid of that thing and can move on with your life like this whole mess never started! It all works out for the best. So come on…" here Impmon stretched her hand out again, "What's it gonna be? You really willing to turn your back on your home like this, or you gonna do the smart thing and solve this little problem right now?"

Impmon flexed her claws slightly, inviting him to press the digivice into her waiting palm. Agumon looked at her gloved hand, dropped his gaze to the ancient artifact he held, then back up to meet the purple demon's steady stare.

"…Well?" she prompted impatiently. "Contrary to what you may think, buddy, this is only a limited-time offer. Once the sun rises tomorrow, this chance will be gone, and there ain't gonna be no turnin' back…"

"I know…" Agumon looked her straight in the eyes and smiled as he went on, "And the answer's 'No way, Impy!' Sorry, but you're not gonna get it from me _that_ easily!"

"What?" Impmon nearly lost her balance, and after managing to re-right herself fixed the orange dinosaur with a cold glare. "I don't think you understand the whole deal, goggle-head. Once your exile's announced publicly tomorrow it'll be over. You'll never be able to call this place home again!"

"I know that," and, incredibly, Agumon smiled. "But even so, I know I found this digivice for a reason. I've been looking for an adventure, and I finally got one. I'm not gonna throw that away!"

"…Even if it means you've gotta leave everythin' you've ever known behind?"

Agumon nodded, and his verdant eyes shone with conviction as he added, "It'll be tough, I know, but if we just keep moving on, and don't ever give up, I know things'll work out somehow."

"………You're crazy, do you know that?"

Agumon just grinned, and Impmon shook her head in exasperation. Drawing her hand back to her side, the little demon turned and walked away from the window a short distance, arms folded behind her head. Abruptly, however, she paused and glanced back over her shoulder at the reptile, a coy smirk exposing one of her tiny fangs.

"Well, fair warning, goggle-head: don't expect to be goin' alone. You've got somethin' I want, and I ain't 'bout to let you walk away and get yourself deleted before I can get my claws on it."

Turning back to face Agumon completely, she winked and said, "In other words, you're stuck with me. I always get what I want, and you ain't gonna keep me from that digivice forever."

"We'll see about that," returned Agumon, a wide grin on his face.

Impmon just whirled on her heel and, with a rustle of leaves, disappeared back into the night. Agumon continued to stare out the window for a long moment after she vanished from sight, then heaved a deep sigh before turning away. He'd stayed up long enough: he needed to be well rested when he… left…

Flopping down on his bed for what he knew could very well be the last time, Agumon stared up at the ceiling as his eyes slowly began to droop shut. Exhaustion from the day's events quickly caught up with him, and soon the orange reptile was fast asleep.

Greymon felt his massive shoulders slump slightly as he listened to his son's light snoring, and the Champion elder shook his head in dismay. He had overheard enough of the conversation to figure out who had been visiting Agumon so late – and what she had offered. Creeping away so as not to disturb the boy – as best as a big orange dinosaur could creep, anyway – he let out a dark sigh.

"Why couldn't he have just accepted?" he muttered under his breath, disappointedly. "It would have solved so much…"

"You know, pops, I've been askin' myself the very same question."

Greymon's head snapped up at once, and he gaped freely at the sight of Impmon standing in the trees mere feet away from him.

"H-how…"

"Feh. I knew you weren't asleep yet – worrying about your 'unfortunate son', right? – so I had a hunch you might overhear my little conversation with goggle-head. Figured I'd better double back an' let you know I don't enjoy being spied on – even if you're so horrible at it."

Greymon bristled at the mocking tone, and his reddish eyes narrowed dangerously as he quietly snarled, "Don't you dare take that tone with me, you little demon…"

"My, my, my, I'm surprised at you, elder. If you're that upset about my presence here, then why didn't you intervene when you realized I was with Agumon? Oh, wait, I know why: you were too pleased with what I offered him, right?"

"What is that supposed to…"

"Forget it, big guy, you're a terrible liar, too," Impmon smirked. "Just admit it: you wanted goggle-boy in there to accept my little offer. You figured, 'Hey! This gets rid of two things I don't want in my village – the 'demonic brat' and the 'ancient artifact of _doom_'. Great!' Too bad your son didn't feel the same way… or should I say your former son?"

"Get out of my sight," snarled the fuming Champion, baring his sharp teeth threateningly.

"Hey, hey, no need to get violent, grandpa, I've got no business here anymore anyway."

So saying, Impmon took a step backward and sprang into the safety of the trees. However, just as Greymon was beginning to relax a bit, her taunting laughter rang out from the darkness.

"I will say this, though, old mon: I personally think it's great that goggle-head's gonna be getting away from you. You're too cowardly and weak – a real bad influence, ya know? You're gonna rot in this simple village 'cause you won't accept changes. It's those who aren't afraid to exploit what they've got and always reaching for more who're gonna survive…"

Greymon nearly roared in pure outrage at the teasing words, but instead stood rigid, clenched fists trembling helplessly at his sides as the violet Virus's mocking chuckles faded away. Soon silence was the Champion digimon's only companion as he stood in the darkness.

The gradually lightening sky was shot through with pastel hues of pink, lavender and orange as the sun peeked over the horizon. The light spread slowly yet surely throughout the sky, pushing away the darkness and forcing shadows to shift back into smaller forms, no longer able to blanket the village freely for the time being.

Palmon felt her heart sink painfully at the sight of the darkness retreating. While normally the flower loved to see the life-giving sun make its unfailing appearance, today it signaled something she would give anything to prevent.

But it was not within the plant digimon's power to change what was happening. She could only stand back and watch, a helpless spectator to the events unfolding before her.

Her hands rested absently on her trembling companion's shoulders, the vine-like fingers prepared to extend and wrap around the larva digimon should she attempt anything drastic. The gesture was also meant to be consoling, but Palmon sensed that there was little she could do to comfort her grief-stricken friend.

It didn't help that a part of her still refused to believe that this was all real. Even now, feeling tears burning the corners of her liquid green eyes as she stared forward, a tiny corner of her mind shrieked that this had to be some surreal nightmare, and it was still possible for her to shatter its grip upon her and awaken…

At the same time, however, she knew the truth: this was reality. As real and cruel as the frigid breeze that swept through her petals, the tears that glistened in her eyes as she watched in stunned silence.

Agumon noticed Palmon's intense stare, and raised one clawed hand in a slow, slight wave, his verdant eyes a bit misty. Beside the plant digimon, Wormmon let out a low, keening wail, trembling like a leaf as she stared at him with watering blue eyes.

The third member of the normally close band of female Rookies was notably absent. Somehow, Agumon couldn't find it within himself to be surprised. The small smile remained frozen on his lips, however: the little lizard could not allow himself to be distracted by anything.

Instead, the orange Rookie squared his shoulders and turned his verdant gaze back up to the figure towering before him, that of the village elder – his former father – Greymon. The adult's pale red eyes were solemn as they studied the slighter figure.

There's something different about him…

Greymon felt a fresh stab of pain in his heart as he searched in vain for a sign of the son he thought he knew in the small Rookie standing before him. While the body was the same, something in the eyes seemed a bit off – they did not bear the same pure innocent light the adult remembered.

Perhaps the demon child was correct…

Still, there was little the elder could do to change things. Agumon had chosen this path himself – if unwittingly at first, but the young lizard had not taken the way out that had been offered to him, so Greymon was forced to conclude that he had settled on this destiny. As the elder of Shuppatsu-ten, he needed to do what was best for the village…

And something like the ancient artifact will only bring trouble if it remains here… This is the only way…

That belief helped Greymon keep the expression of indifference firmly in place as he nodded farewell to his son. Like it or not, the boy's fate was no longer in the elder's claws… it remained up to Agumon to decide his future now…

Agumon returned his father's solemn nod, then averted his gaze away, letting it trace once more over the faces of those who had come to see him off. It was a small send-off, consisting mainly of the elder and most of the fire lizard's friends: there hadn't been a lot of time to organize a huge farewell, something Agumon felt oddly grateful for. It was as if the full reality of the situation wasn't hitting him yet thanks to the lack of adults crowding him: instead, he was surrounded by most of his friends, with only one face notably absent…

Palmon still had one arm around Wormmon's back, and tears glistened in the eyes of both girls. However, the flower digimon was somehow managing to deal with the situation a lot better than her companion, if one could judge from the sad smile of farewell on her face, her free hand raised slightly in a hesitant wave of farewell.

Then again, Wormmon had every reason to be more affected than her friend.

"B-big brother…" she stammered, blinking watering blue eyes in a futile attempt to compose herself.

Veemon simply smiled in understanding as he wrapped his arms around the caterpillar in a comforting hug. Face to face with his sibling, he grinned lopsidedly, crimson eyes twinkling. Close enough observation would have quickly revealed that the bright shining of his eyes came from unshed tears, but somehow he managed to mask this fact from the others.

"C'mon, sis, don't be like this," cajoled the little dragon. "We'll be alright, you'll see! Nothings' gonna happen to us!" Leaning in closer again, he whispered just low enough that only Wormmon could hear, "And we'll find a way to make certain Agumon can come back, too… I promise."

Wormmon sniffled, blinking rapidly to fight her tears as she forced her own shy, slight version of a smile for her brother's sake. Getting to his feet and stepping back, Veemon flashed her a wink and a V-sign before turning to stand by Agumon.

The orange lizard hid the fact that he swallowed hard at this display. Ironically, the fact that it was very possible he would never see Shuppatsu-ten again didn't ache nearly as much as the fact that he wasn't going alone. Veemon was making good on his promise to stick by his fellow goggle-mon by choosing to travel with him.

Guilmon was also by Agumon's side, with Gomamon currently riding in his arms again. The crimson dinosaur wanted to stick by his adoptive brother and best friend's side; the white seal simply decided to cast her lot in with her saviors rather than stay in the village with strangers.

Agumon's exile did not extend to any of his companions. They could return to Shuppatsu-ten at any time they wished – so long as he didn't accompany them, or they carried the 'dreaded' digivice back within its limits. They were freely choosing to go with him…not leaving out of any obligation other than feelings of friendship and loyalty.

A faint, pointed cough caught his attention, and Agumon turned to face the road ahead of him. Impmon was standing there in the center of the dusty path, hands planted on her hips, crimson scarf fluttering in the wind, familiar smirk in place, one tiny fang glinting as it caught the rising sun's light.

"You ready to go, goggle-boy?" she queried, eyeing the orange reptile.

Agumon smirked back at the violet Virus, matching her challenging smile as best he good with his oversized muzzle.

"I'm ready."

Such a simple statement, a proclamation made in total earnest. Greymon could only pray that his son understood the full implications of his words. However, the elder kept his thoughts to himself, merely nodding in acknowledgement of Agumon's declaration.

"Then, Agumon, you must leave Shuppatsu-ten. Perhaps, if you ever manage to get rid of the dangerous ancient artifact…"

Impmon fought back the almost overwhelming urge to snort at the elder's veiled offer. It was all too obvious that the Champion dinosaur was struggling to cover all his tracks, and leave open as many loopholes as possible for his son to reenter the village. Idly she wondered what the chances would have been of the adult bending over backwards like this had any other digimon been the one to recover the digivice…

Not that all his waffling mattered. Agumon was clearly set on this path, and nothing his father could do would dissuade him from his choice – _his_ choice, not something anyone had forced on him.

The purple Rookie's smirk widened briefly. For now, the path she had chosen just happened to run alongside that of the orange reptile and his friends. Perhaps one day in the near future they would diverge again – after either obtaining his digivice or discovering one of her own along the way – but for now, she'd stick with them.

"Well then…" she prompted, eyeing the gathered digimon meaningfully.

Agumon nodded, then turned to face Greymon. The elder digimon gazed at the younger children for a long moment, then slowly nodded once, firmly, down at the smaller reptile and his companions.

"Sovereigns watch over you, children," he replied, then paused and shook his head before correcting himself: "…Travelers…"

Agumon blinked once at this, then smiled as he returned, "Sovereigns watch over you… elder."

Taking a few steps backward, Agumon looked over at the other Rookies. Veemon moved first, nodding knowingly at his best friend and flashing another victory sign toward where Wormmon stood with Palmon. Guilmon waved farewell, golden eyes shining brightly in the rising sun. Gomamon simply waved goodbye, not really knowing what else to do: not being a native of Shuppatsu-ten, she could only guess at what her companions had to be thinking.

"Bye-bye! See you again!" Guilmon called out.

Palmon forced a smile as she and Wormmon waved back at their departing friends, even as she tightened her grip on the larva Rookie's shoulder a bit. Either the gravity of the entire situation had not hit the crimson dinosaur yet, or he held more hope for the chances of their eventually being able to return than the flower digimon did.

"Until then," she replied simply, deciding it would be the best way to answer his innocent promise.

"Be careful, everyone!" added Wormmon, fighting to keep her composure as she watched her brother and his friends walk away.

The five travelers started down the path, though each continued to cast glances back at the small group seeing them off and wave farewell. Even Impmon waved once at the two girls she had spent so much of her time in Shuppatsu-ten teasing and annoying, though the purple demon kept the same cocky smirk on her face as she did so.

All too soon it seemed to those left behind, the small band had walked around the first bend and out of sight. Greymon heard a soft sigh, and glanced down sympathetically at the pair of Rookies beside him. Before he could offer to walk the children back to their respective homes, however, Palmon turned away from him.

"Come on, Wormy," the flower digimon murmured, starting back down the road toward Shuppatsu-ten, gently steering her friend in the same direction.

Greymon knew when he was being deliberately ignored; however, the elder took no offense from the obvious slight. After all, the Champion knew Palmon surely blamed him for his role in driving so many of her friends away – and could not begrudge the girl her feelings of resentment and hatred.

Perhaps in time you will come to understand why this must be done, he mused grimly, watching the pair of young digimon make their way back home. _Though I do not expect forgiveness for my actions anytime soon, maybe one day you may at least understand that there are times when I have to act in Shuppatsu-ten's best interests over my own…_

he mused grimly, watching the pair of young digimon make their way back home. 

Casting one last look in the direction the five Rookies had gone, Greymon sighed and started back down the path toward his home – his responsibility. All he could do now was continue to live as he had chosen, just as his son had. Each had decided upon a path to follow, and the elder could only pray that Agumon and his companions were not heading towards their own deletion...


End file.
